We are thrilled to welcome alum Dr. Jamal Lewis to the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering. Lewis will join the department as an associate professor in Summer 2022.
Lewis completed his B.S. in chemical engineering from Florida A&M University in 2004 and M.S. in biomedical engineering in 2007 from North Carolina State University. He received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Florida in 2012.
Most recently, Lewis was an associate professor in the biomedical engineering department at UC Davis, joining the department in 2015. Before UC Davis, he was a Senior Scientist at OneVax, LLC, and a postdoc associate at UF BME.
As a former alum, Lewis always wanted to work at the school he attended. “There is no place like home, and for me, that is UF, Gainesville, and the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering. I eagerly anticipate working with the UF BME family to develop revolutionary biomedical technologies while educating the next generation of Florida biomedical engineers.”
While he was a postdoc at UF, under the mentorship of Dr. Benjamin Keselowsky, his research focus was on immune cell-targeting synthetic microparticle vaccine for Type 1 Diabetes. Other projects included developing biomimetic surfaces for manipulation of dendritic cells and using special ligands to modulate the foreign body response to implanted biomaterials.
Lewis’ research, educational and entrepreneurial efforts have been supported by the NIH. His lab focuses on the development of novel biomaterial systems that can manipulate the immune system. Their goal is to design the next generation of immunotherapeutics for applications in immune-related diseases. This multidisciplinary work incorporates aspects of biomaterials engineering, drug delivery, immunology, biochemistry and cell biology.
Currently, research efforts in the Lewis lab are centered on:
- Investigation and translation of a particulate platform system for autoimmune disease therapy
- Development of biologically-inspired polymers for immune modulation
- Uncovering the role of dendritic cells in the foreign body response to materials
- Understanding controlled non-lytic exocytosis in phagocytic cells
His honors and awards include the prestigious NIH Early Stage Investigator MIRA, Regenerative Medicine Workshop Young Faculty Award and the CMBE Journal Young Innovator Award.
Lewis’ lab will be housed in the new Herbert Wertheim Laboratory for Engineering Excellence on the biotechnology floor.
Welcome back, Dr. Lewis!