2024 Marble Center Distinguished Seminar Series
Molecular Bottlebrush Prodrugs and Antibody Bottlebrush Conjugates (ABCs)
Jeremiah Johnson, PhD
Monday April 29th, 2024 (4-5pm EST)
KOCH INSTITUTE LURIA AUDITORIUM
Registration details will be shared soon
The development of targeted cancer therapies that are both effective and safe remains a significant challenge. Tumor-selective nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery strategies, which encompass a broad range of conceptual paradigms, promise to improve patient outcomes; however, many challenges remain to fully realize the potential of such constructs in the clinic. Learnings from decades of research have shown that nanoparticle chemistry, which encompasses composition, size, shape, drug release mechanism, etc., plays key roles in both the biological functions of such systems as well as their translatability. Drawing from these learnings and inspired by antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), which are amongst the most successful “nanoparticle” delivery constructs in the clinic today, we have invented a molecular bottlebrush prodrug platform that seeks to unlock a broad range of new therapeutic strategies for cancer. This talk will describe the conception of our bottlebrush polymer prodrugs and describe recent examples where this platform has been leveraged to address unanswered questions in cancer therapy, including how synergistic combination therapies discovered in vitro can be translated in vivo, as well as how the timing of immune stimulation can provide access to safe yet more-effective cancer immunotherapies. Finally, monoclonal antibody–bottlebrush conjugates (ABCs) that may overcome some of the limitations of ADCs will be introduced.
About Dr. Jeremiah Johnson: Jeremiah conducted undergraduate research with Prof. Karen L. Wooley at Washington University in St. Louis where he received a B.S. in biomedical engineering with a second major in chemistry. He then received a PhD in chemistry from Columbia University under the mentorship of Prof. Nicholas J. Turro and Prof. Jeffrey T. Koberstein. In 2011, following a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship at California Institute of Technology under the guidance of Professors David A. Tirrell and Robert H. Grubbs, he moved to MIT where he is now the A. Thomas Geurtin Professor of Chemistry. He is also a member of the MIT Program for Polymers and Soft Matter (PPSM), the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard. He is Co-Founder of Window Therapeutics Inc. and Electrolyte Solutions Inc., both of which are based on technologies (co)developed in his laboratory at MIT.
Jeremiah received a 2019 ACS Cope Scholar Award, the 2018 Macromolecules-Biomacromolecules Young Investigator Award, the 2018 Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education, a Sloan Research Fellowship, the Air Force Young Investigator Award, the Thieme Journal Award for Young Faculty, the DuPont Young Professor Award, the 3M Non-tenured Faculty Award, and an NSF CAREER award. In 2019 and 2023 he was named as a Finalist for the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists. In 2020 and 2023, nanoparticle constructs from his laboratory were awarded the Assay Cascade Award from the Nanoparticle Characterization Laboratory of the National Cancer Institute. In recognition of his teaching, he was awarded the 2018 MIT School of Science Undergraduate Teaching Prize. The Johnson research group is focused on the invention of methods and strategies for the synthesis of functional (macro)molecules and materials to address fundamental scientific questions and contribute solutions to global challenges including renewable energy storage, chemical sustainability, and human health.