Patient-specific vascularized tumor model: Blocking monocyte recruitment with multispecific antibodies targeting CCR2 and CSF-1R.

Tumor-associated inflammation drives cancer progression and therapy resistance, often linked to the infiltration of monocyte-derived tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which are associated with poor prognosis in various cancers. To advance immunotherapies, testing on immunocompetent pre-clinical models of human tissue is crucial. We have developed an in vitro model of microvascular networks with tumor spheroids or patient tissues to assess monocyte trafficking into tumors and evaluate immunotherapies targeting the human tumor microenvironment.

Stochastic to Deterministic: A straightforward approach to create serially perfusable multiscale capillary beds.

Generation of tissue models with serially perfused hierarchical vasculature would allow greater control of fluid perfusion throughout the network and enable direct mechanistic investigation of vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, and vascular remodeling. In this work, we have developed a method to produce a closed, serially perfused, multiscale vessel network embedded within an acellular hydrogel. We confirmed that the acellular and cellular gel-gel interface was functionally annealed without preventing or biasing cell migration and endothelial self-assembly.

Equipping Small Businesses to Navigate Health Orders and Occupational Safety During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

From July 2020 to June 2021, the UC San Diego COVID-19 Small Business Outreach Project conducted COVID-19-related educational outreach to small businesses in high-risk communities of San Diego County and distributed over 1,200 toolkits containing COVID-19-related safety tips, best practices, and a summary of pertinent guidelines and COVID-19 vaccine information.