Yanpu He

Dr. Yanpu He is an Assistant Professor at the School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia (UBC). He completed his postdoctoral training at MIT's Department of Biological Engineering under Prof. Angela Belcher in 2024, following a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at MIT (2021), co-supervised by Profs. Paula Hammond and Darrell Irvine.

His research focuses on bio-inspired protein-based immunotherapy development for cancer, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders. The lab leverages protein engineering and cellular engineering approaches to manipulate immune responses, notably repurposing STING protein complexes to activate immunologically 'cold' tumor microenvironments. His work has demonstrated 70%-100% tumor eradication in mouse models of colon cancer and melanoma.

Key affiliations include:

• Faculty of Applied Science & Faculty of Medicine, UBC
• Core Support Facilities in Cellular & Molecular Engineering
• UBC's Point Grey campus (Musqueam First Nation traditional territory)

Research themes span immunoengineering, biomaterials, and computational biology applications. The lab's recent breakthroughs in STING protein repurposing (DOI:10.1002/adhm.202370148) highlight their translational focus.