Dr. Brittany Hartwell’s Quest to Improve Intranasal Vaccines and Transmucosal Uptake
Dr. Brittany Hartwell, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, has been recognized with a 2022 Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grant for her proposal to improve intranasal vaccines and transmucosal uptake.
Her research focuses on developing an intranasal vaccine that has been engineered to bypass mucosal barriers in the nose using a protein, albumin, naturally found in mucus.
By improving mucosal uptake, Dr. Hartwell hopes to enhance mucosal immunity and combat epidemics such as HIV and COVID-19. The $150,000 grant will help Dr. Hartwell investigate vaccine design and define immune responses while bringing greater recognition and exposure to her research.
About Michelson Prizes
The Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants are $150,000 research grants given annually to support promising researchers who are applying disruptive concepts and inventive processes to advance human immunology, vaccine discovery, and immunotherapy research for major global diseases.
The 2023 Michelson Prizes will be looking for research aimed at tackling the current roadblocks that exist in human vaccine development and expanding our limited understanding of key immune processes that are fundamental to successful vaccine and immunotherapy development.
For more information about the prizes, please visit https://www.michelsonmedicalresearch.org/michelson-prizes-next-generation.