Shawn D. Hingtgen

Shawn D. Hingtgen, PhD, is a Professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, with dual appointments in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics and the UNC Department of Neurosurgery. As a UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center member, his work bridges biomedical engineering, neuroscience, and oncology through:

• Developing tumor-homing stem cell beacons for immune-based cancer therapy
• Optimizing nanofiber matrices to enhance neural stem cell efficacy
• Engineering stem cell therapies to combat glioblastoma adaptation

His lab's recent publications (2023-2020) focus on:

• Glioblastoma tumor targeting using engineered neural stem cells
• Biomaterial scaffolds (FLOSEAL®, fibrin matrices) for cell therapy protection
• CAR-T cell synergy with stem cell cytokine delivery
• Personalized treatment platforms using patient-derived tumor models

Scientific contributions include:

• Multiple NIH-funded projects
• Provisional patents on induced neural stem cell generation
• Co-founding Falcon Therapeutics

Key awards highlight his commitment to innovation:

• Keystone Symposia Underrepresented Recognition
• ABTA Post-doctoral Fellowship
• NIDDK Minority Travel Awards
• Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Awards

His research emphasizes clinical translation, including:

• Novel 'slice platform' for personalized brain tumor diagnosis
• Post-surgical therapeutic scaffolds
• Strategies to overcome immune rejection in cell therapies