UC Davis Joins $42.8M ARPA-H Project to Treat Inflammatory Diseases with Implantable Device
Each year, as many as 70,000 people are diagnosed with incurable inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD. At the University of California, Davis, Cheemeng Tan, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, and Sean Collins, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, are part of a large collaborative project bringing academics and industry researchers together to develop an implantable device for treating the condition.
Known as Engage Assess SecretE, or EASE, the project will develop a device carrying genetically engineered cells that synthesize antibodies in the human body. The antibodies will then reduce inflammation and relieve symptoms of IBD. The device will function like a pharmacy inside the body, producing and releasing the cells as a real-time response to flare-ups. The implantable technology, if successful, could be adapted to treat other chronic inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
EASE is supported by a $42.8 million award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, or ARPA-H. ARPA-H was created in 2022 as an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to promote the rapid development of breakthrough technologies for medicine and health.
Alexander Revzin at the Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics leads the effort, which features a team of 15 research groups nationwide. The team's expertise ranges from cell encapsulation and cell engineering to biosensing and bioelectronics.
The Tan and Collins labs at UC Davis will contribute to the project by engineering synthetic cells that can be controlled by signals from the device.
"We are excited to leverage our latest synthetic biology technology to enable on-demand and in-situ treatment of IBD," Tan said.