TEAM
Principal Investigator
Ryan M. Pearson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director, Bio- and Nano-Technology Center
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
20 N. Pine Street, N525
Baltimore, MD 21201
Dr. Ryan Pearson is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Bio- and Nano-Technology Center at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. He further holds an adjunct appointment in the Molecular Microbiology & Immunology department at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Pearson received his Ph.D in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan. Dr. Pearson’s immune engineering laboratory focuses on developing nanoparticle-based technologies to treat dysregulated immune responses specifically focusing on sepsis, trauma, autoimmunity, and allergy. He has published over 40 manuscripts in top journals in the field, is an inventor on 3 granted patents, and has several additional patents pending. Dr. Pearson been recognized with multiple awards including the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy New Investigator Award, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education Rising Star Award, Shock Society Faculty Research Award, and the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (R35 MIRA) from NIGMS. Dr. Pearson serves on the editorial board of Pharmaceutical Research and Drug Delivery & Translational Research, and as faculty advisor for the AAPS UMB Student Chapter. He was the former Chair of the Immuno Delivery Focus Group for the Controlled Release Society and the AAPS Nanotechnology Community.
If you are interested in joining the Pearson Lab for Immunomodulatory Biomaterials, please contact Dr. Pearson, note your interests and relevant qualifications, and attach your CV.
Postdoctoral applicants - we are looking for scholars with in-depth experience in any of the following areas: polymer chemistry, drug delivery, immunology, in vivo evaluation of nanomedicines.
Graduate students - we are currently recruiting 1 student from Fall 2024 and anticipate 1-2 students for Fall 2025.
Undergraduate students - we will consider undergraduates to join the lab given a time commitment of 1 year or greater.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Dr. Pearson.
Current group members
Postdoctoral Researchers
Jason (Junsik) Sung, Ph.D.
2022 Ph.D. Biomedical Science (Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA))
2016 M.S. Molecular Medicine & Biopharmaceutical Science (Seoul National University, Korea)
2013 B.S. Biology (University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT))
Graduate Students
Brianna Scotland
GNE-MGFP Fellow
5th year PhD Candidate
2018 B.S. Biology (University of the Virgin Islands, STT Campus)
Andrea Cottingham (4th year PhD Candidate)
PSC Fellow
2020 B.S. Chemistry (Salisbury University, MD)
Jacob Shaw (4th year PhD Candidate)
2018 B.S. Molecular Biology (Towson University, MD)
Shruti Dharmaraj (3rd year PhD Candidate)
2017 B.S. Biomedical Engineering (New Jersey Institute of Technology)
2019 M.S. Biomedical Engineering (Arizona State University Tempe, AZ)
Honorary Lab Members
