{"685701":{"#nid":"685701","#data":{"type":"event","title":"BioE PhD Defense Presentation- Zhe Zhong","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnkur Singh, PhD (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech and Emory University)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee Members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAndr\u00e9s J. Garc\u00eda, PhD (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESusan N. Thomas, PhD (George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAhmet Coskun, PhD (Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJean L. Koff, MD, MS (Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHuman immune organoids to decode B cell response in healthy donors and patients with lymphoma\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding human B cell differentiation is vital for developing effective vaccines and therapies, especially in immunocompromised patients such as those with B cell lymphoma. Current models based on secondary lymphoid tissues like tonsils have provided valuable insights but remain limited by tissue availability, intrinsic inflamed microenvironments, and the inability to mimic the complex human lymphoid microenvironment.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address this, this thesis presents the development of synthetic hydrogels that mimic the lymphoid tissue microenvironment, enabling human B cell maturation processes from tonsils and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) -derived B cells. These organoids emulate lymphoid tissue biophysical properties, chemokine gradients, and cell\u2013cell interactions, enabling the study of germinal center formation and antibody-producing plasma cell differentiation under physiologically relevant conditions. Next, we applied this platform to characterize B cell fate decisions across healthy donors and lymphoma patients through transcriptomic profiling and multiparametric metrics. We further integrated immune organoids with microfluidic devices to spatially regulate spatial organization via chemokine gradients, enabling mechanistic studies of B cell selection dynamics in health and diseases. Altogether, this system allows rapid, controlled modelling of immune responses and B cell disorders, developing next-generation immunotherapies.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBioE PhD Defense Presentation- \u0022Human immune organoids to decode B cell response in healthy donors and patients with lymphoma\u0022- Zhe Zhong\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022Human immune organoids to decode B cell response in healthy donors and patients with lymphoma\u0022"}],"uid":"27917","created_gmt":"2025-10-14 13:51:36","changed_gmt":"2025-10-14 13:51:36","author":"Laura Paige","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2025-10-21T15:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2025-10-21T17:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2025-10-21T17:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2025-10-21 19:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2025-10-21 21:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2025-10-21 21:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"1128 IBB","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"65448","name":"Bioengineering Graduate Program"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"172056","name":"go-BioE"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}