Summary

The Lipchik Group investigates how the immune system senses and coordinates its response to inflammation. A stint in the lab, located in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, provides training for careers in academia (graduate school, medical school) or builds entrepreneurial and technical skills for biotech and pharma.

The use of immunoglobulin as an anti-inflammatory therapy was first discovered in 1981 when thrombocytopenia was treated with high-dose intravenous IgG (IVIG). Since then, IVIG has been shown to be therapeutically efficacious in over 100 different diseases. IVIG has many ideal therapeutic properties but suffers from several limitations, including the dependency on a human source and a prohibitively high dose (1-2 g/kg) requirement. Despite the known benefits of IVIG therapy, there have been limited advancements in the design, manufacturing, or formulation of IgG as an anti-inflammatory therapy. The lab will address this need by devising multiple innovative strategies to engineer recombinant immunoglobulins with enhanced therapeutic properties to reduce the required dosage and circumvent the need for a human source. These strategies include mutations for specific Fc receptor binding, self-assembled multimers of IgG for higher avidity, and the introduction of novel mutations for co-receptor engagement and activation with other biomolecules. The efficiency of these new formulations will be applied to classic models of inflammation and autoimmunity. This approach offers an innovative, scalable therapy to treat the 100 conditions where IVIG is effective.

Required qualifications

• A Ph.D. in chemistry, chemical biology, biochemistry, immunology, chemical or biological engineering, or related field.
• Must be familiar with antibody and peptide synthesis and purification techniques, mass spectrometry, and assay development.
• Good oral/written communication skills, creative problem-solving flexibility, and the ability to integrate into an interdisciplinary team.

Required application materials

Send a cover letter describing your research experience and interests and your curriculum vitae to alipchik@wayne.edu.