The University of Oklahoma has received an $11.5 million award from the National Institutes of Health to establish the Oklahoma Center of ImmunoEngineering, a new research center designed to accelerate the study and treatment of diseases rooted in the immune system, according to a June 12 announcement.
The five-year Phase I award is funded through NIH's Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence program and will build a statewide immunoengineering research network while establishing two specialized research cores at OU. The center is led by principal investigators Wei Chen, Ph.D., and Chongle Pan, Ph.D.
Immunoengineering applies engineering tools and principles to analyze and manipulate the immune system by adjusting its activity depending on the disease. For cancer or viral infection, researchers aim to amplify immune responses; for autoimmune diseases, they seek suppression. The field generates significant data volumes that are increasingly central to new discoveries.
To support these efforts, the center will house two closely coordinated research cores: the Immunomodulation Technology Core for experimental laboratory work and the Omics Data Science Core for computational tools that assist with experiment design, large-scale data management, and result interpretation. "Immunology, immunotherapy, and data science are among the most exciting and transformative fields in modern biomedical research," said Chen. "Their convergence in immunoengineering is creating unprecedented opportunities to advance human health. As a cancer researcher, I have benefited greatly using immunology and immunotherapy, as well as omics data analysis to advance a novel therapy for the treatment of late-stage cancer patients. The Oklahoma Center of ImmunoEngineering will provide a unique platform that integrates immunomodulation technologies with omics data science, empowering researchers across Oklahoma to drive discoveries and translate them into improved patient outcomes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such center in the nation."
Co-principal investigator Chongle Pan leads development on data science aspects within OCIE's Omics Data Science Core. "Engineering the immune system requires a predictive understanding of the immune system. By bringing together data science, artificial intelligence, and predictive models, this core will help researchers across Oklahoma turn complex immune data into discoveries that can guide better treatments," said Pan.
OCIE has selected four early-career faculty as project leaders who are paired with experienced mentors from OU’s Norman and Health Sciences campuses. In addition to supporting these projects directly through funding or resources like monthly seminars or workshops aimed at connecting basic translational clinical researchers statewide, OCIE plans annual symposia plus pilot team-science initiatives targeting further collaboration.
Oklahoma is one state served by NIH's Institutional Development Award program, which works toward building research capacity where federal funding levels have historically been lower.
