Steven M. Szczepanek

Steven M. Szczepanek is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Connecticut. His research focuses on vaccine development and immunological interventions for infectious diseases, including human respiratory pathogens like Mycoplasma pneumoniae and avian pathogens such as Mycoplasma gallisepticum. Key collaborations include the Geary Lab for vaccine design, Thanh Nguyen’s lab for microneedle patch technology, and Jessica Rouge’s lab for nanoparticle-based gene silencing applications in asthma.

• Developing subunit vaccines for pneumonia and chronic respiratory diseases
• Engineering pulsatile microneedle patches for single-dose vaccination
• Investigating therapeutic nanoparticles for inflammatory conditions
• Studying vaccine-enhanced disease mechanisms in respiratory pathogens

His recent research trends emphasize microneedle technology for multi-pathogen vaccines (SARS-CoV-2, pneumococcus, influenza, rabies) and RNA-based immunomodulation for asthma. Publications highlight molecular pathogenesis studies, vaccine safety challenges, and cross-disciplinary engineering-biology collaborations.

Contact: steven.szczepanek@uconn.edu | Office: Atwater Laboratory, Room A115-A (Lab A144)