Ex Vivo T-Cell Growth, Capture, Characterization, and Modification in Bioreactors for CAR T-Cell Therapy

Through my master’s thesis project, CAR T-cell production in a WAVE bioreactor, my work has focused on the optimization of the WAVE system, determining the best flow rates of the input materials and when to advance each step of cell production. 

I have worked on an interdisciplinary aspect of the project, in designing a flow-cell capture system to separate activated T-cells from unactivated cells on a biotinylated membrane.  This has involved extensive CAD modelling and simulation, followed by 3D printing of polycarbonate prototypes and CNC machining of the final product in stainless steel.

My most recent work was on optimizing culture conditions for growth and cytokine induction of differentiation of T-cells to a target memory cell line to increase CAR therapy efficiency. I have also worked on non-viral transfections of the T-cells, with the end goal of using a CRISPR/Cpf1 system for integration.