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Areas of Research
Dr. Thomas’s research focuses on the role of biological transport phenomena in physiological and pathophysiological processes. Her laboratory specializes in incorporating mechanics with cell engineering, biochemistry, biomaterials, and immunology in order to 1) elucidate the role mechanical forces play in regulating seemingly unrelated aspects of tumor progression such as metastasis and immune suppression as well as 2) develop novel immunotherapeutics to treat cancer such as with vaccines and cell- or molecular-based approaches.
Educational Background
- Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University, 2008
- B.S., University of California Los Angeles, 2003
Selected Awards
- Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Concept Award, 2009
- Whitaker International Postdoctoral Scholarship, 2008
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2005
- National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Grant, 2001
Selected Research Publications
- Thomas, S.N., van der Vlies, A.J., O’Neil, C.P., Reddy, S.T., Yu, S.S., Giorgio, T.D., Swartz, M.A., Hubbell, J.A. 2011 Engineering Complement Activation on Polypropylene Sulfide Vaccine Nanoparticles. Biomaterials. 32 (8): 2194-203. Epub 2010 Dec 22.
- Hubbell, J.A., Thomas, S.N., Swartz, M.A. 2009. Materials Engineering for Immunomodulation. Nature. 462 (7272): 449-460.
- Konstantopoulos, K., Thomas, S.N. 2009. Cancer Cells in Transit: The Vascular Interactions of Tumor Cells. Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering. 11:177–202.
- Thomas, S.N., Zhu, F., Schnaar, R.L., Alves, C.S., Konstantopoulos, K. 2008. Carcinoembryonic Antigen and CD44 Variant Isoforms Cooperate to Mediate Colon Carcinoma Cell Adhesion to E- and L-selectin in Shear Flow. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 283(23): 15647-55.
- Napier, S.L., Healy, Z.R., Schnaar, R.L., Konstantopoulos, K. 2007. Selectin Ligand Expression Regulates the Initial Vascular Interactions of Colon Carcinoma cells: the Roles of CD44v and Alternate Sialofucosylated Selectin Ligands. Journal of Biological Chemistry 282(6); 3433-3441.
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