Wenting Gao

Critically analyzes market trends, identifies product opportunities and capitalizes on changing customer and industry conditions. Coordinates cross-functional operations with planners to maintain accurate forecasting and quantity updates. Dedicated to maximizing sales and profits while meeting budget limits.

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• Ph.D. student, The Jiang Lab at the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 06/2021, Present, Investigating dynamic change in innate and adaptive myeloid & lymphoid cell populations surrounding zwitterionic implants Assessing the role of immune regulators in mitigating fibrotic formation in tissue surrounding zwitterionic implants Transcriptome profiling analysis of implant-associate tissue with various hydrogel implants Collaboratively working on integrating immunology into existing biomaterials research programs to develop immune-modulating biomaterial platforms Collaboratively developed a novel drug delivery system based on endogenous virus-like vesicle and investigated its potential to deliver mRNA in vivo into various animal models of neurological disorders. Performed pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies of zwitterionic fusion protein in C57BL/6 mice Tested newly formed lipid nanoparticles encapsulated neoantigens for in vivo tumor inhibition experiments conducted on B16F10 and 4T1 tumor bearing mice.
• Research fellow, Dr. Tania Watts's Lab at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, 09/2019, 08/2020, Assessed the role of monocyte-derived cells (MoAPC) in STING agonist therapy by using CCR2-/- mice to see if lack of CCR2 affects tumor growth ± STING agonist therapy Assessed the role of 4-1BBL and GITRL on MoAPC in STING agonist therapy by using mice lacking 4-1BBL on all cells to analyze if tumor control requires 4-1BBL or GITRL on MoAPC Conducted single cell RNA-seq on infiltrating immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) ± STING agonist therapy to assess how STING agonist changes immune cells in the TME Contributed to the project funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) investigating how long immunity persists in cohort of subjects that have recovered from COVID19
• Undergraduate visiting student, The Langer Lab at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, MA, 09/2018, 08/2019, Collaboratively worked on the development of polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) microfabricated particles that remain at the site of intratumoral injection and release encapsulated STING agonist as a sequence of pulses at pre-determined time points which can trigger potent local and systemic antitumor immunity Investigated whether a single injection of a combination of different cGAMP-loaded 3D PLGA microparticles would activate STING pathway and effectively inhibit tumor growth in mice Cell cultured B16F10 and 4T1 tumor cells for in vivo tumor inhibition experiments conducted on C57BL/6 and BALB/c female mice Analyzed in vivo release kinetics of different PLGA microfabricated particles injected into SKH1-E female mice using the In Vivo Imaging System (IVIS) Contributed to the project granted by Bill & Melinda Gates foundation regarding single injection delivery material for polio vaccines
• Research assistant, The Anderson Lab at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, MA, 09/2018, 08/2019, Collaboratively established a high throughput lipid library composed of ionizable lipids with versatile structures using a one-step isocyanide-mediated multi-component reaction Analyzed the interactions of mRNA-lipid nanoparticles with cGAS-STING and TLR MyD88 pathways to identify the possible mechanisms causing different adaptive immune activations among lipids with cyclic and linear head groups Evaluated the function of cGAS and STING in situ following vaccination with cyclic A18 lipid nanoparticles
• Research student, Dr. Keiko Yoshioka's Lab at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, 05/2018, 08/2018, Performed wet lab and molecular biology scientific research to investigate Ca2+ signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana under stress conditions using GCaMP3 protein Cross pollinated A. thaliana to generate CNGC knockout mutants expressing GCaMP3 followed by DNA analysis and GFP detection to select GFP positive mutant plants using florescence microscope Analyzed Ca2+ signals in CNGC GCaMP3 mutants by florescence microscope and plate reader upon various abiotic and biotic stimuli
• Volunteer Student, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, 01/2018, 04/2018, Analyzed if traits of flowering time in A. thaliana are adaptive by using seeds from pre-drought and post-drought plants Sowed the seeds of A. thaliana under various growing conditions, pollinated and fertilized plants depending on its growth Measured the total mass of seeds after the experiment and estimated relative fitness at the end of the experiment

• Delivery of mRNA vaccines with heterocyclic lipids increases anti-tumor efficacy by STING-mediated immune cell activation, Lei M., Li L., Huang Y., Delcassian D., Chahal J., Han J., Shi Y., Sadtler K., Gao W., Lin J., Doloff J., Langer R., Anderson D.G., Nature Biotechnology, 37, 1174-1185, 10.1038/s41587-019-0247-3, 2019
• Engineered PLGA microparticles for long-term, pulsatile release of STING agonist for cancer immunotherapy, Lu X., Lei M., Gao W., McHugh K.J., Tochka Z., Tomasic S., Sadtler K., Hyacinthe A., Huang Y., Graf T., Hu Q., Sarmadi M., Langer R., Anderson D.G., Jaklenec A., Science Translational Medicine, 12, 556, eeaz6606, 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaz6606, 2020
• Phosphatidylserine Lipid Nanoparticles Promote Systemic RNA Delivery to Secondary Lymphoid Organs, Luozhong SJ., Yuan Z., Sarmiento T., Yu C., Gu W., McCurdy C., Gao W., Li R., Wilkens S., Jiang S., Nano Letters, 2022
• STING agonists drive IFN-I responses in monocytes for optimal anti-tumor immunity, Girard M., Batista N.V., Yeung K., Yu T., Gao W., Lamorte S., McGaha T.L., Watts T.H., Nature Immunology, 2022

• Immunology Undergraduate Research Symposium, Toronto, ON, 04/2020, Poster, Accumulation of GITRL-expressing inflammatory monocyte-derived cells in the tumor microenvironment after STINGagonist treatment is CCR2-dependent
• CSB Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, Toronto, ON, 08/2018, Poster, Analysis of Ca2+ signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana under stress conditions using GCaMP3 protein