Biophysical Regulation of Macrophages with Engineered Materials
Official title: Biophysical Regulation of Macrophages Through Engineered Material Platforms
Funded at State University of New York at Buffalo · NIH-11429949 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Aims to reveal how the physical environment around macrophages shapes their behavior, using engineered materials that mimic real tissues.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | State University of New York at Buffalo NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Amherst, United States) |
| Project start | July 10, 2026 |
| Project end | March 31, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $432,844 |
| NIH project number | 1R35GM166254-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11429949 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are patients with cancers or fibrotic diseases where macrophage behavior contributes to disease progression, or those with tissue injury histories included in benchmark datasets.
✕Less likely to help
Participants not presenting with inflammatory or fibrotic conditions related to macrophage dysfunction may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project will create dynamic, cell-instructive biomaterials that simulate tissue mechanics to study how macrophages become inflammatory or fibrotic. It will test how surface curvature, viscoelasticity, and intracellular forces influence macrophage states, comparing results with real tissue data from injury and fibrosis. The work combines novel material platforms with benchmarks from in vivo datasets to understand mechanoimmunology more accurately. By identifying mechanical tipping points, the research could point to new ways to steer immune responses in cancer and aging-related conditions.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could guide the design of materials and therapies that promote healing and reduce harmful inflammation in cancer and fibrotic diseases.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work has linked mechanical cues to macrophage behavior, with early data suggesting that matrix stiffness and geometry influence immune responses.
Where this research is happening
-
State University of New York at Buffalo
Amherst, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Tiruvannamalai Annamalai, Ramkumar — State University of New York at Buffalo
- Study coordinator: Tiruvannamalai Annamalai, Ramkumar
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.