Aaron Esser-Kahn

About

Aaron Esser-Kahn is a Professor of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. He grew up in suburban Detroit and studied at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before launching his academic career at the University of Irvine in the Chemistry Department, where he worked from 2011 until 2017. In 2017, he joined the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. His primary research focuses on immunoengineering and improving immune responses in vaccination. His group works on enhancing innate immune responses by understanding immune mechanisms and developing methods to manipulate them. His secondary research area involves adaptive materials, where his team develops materials that mimic the human body's ability to respond and adapt to external stimuli, providing force-mediated adaptation. His research interests lie at the intersection of biology, chemistry, and materials science, utilizing tools from each discipline to address complex problems. His current projects include developing microvascular thermal and gaseous exchange units inspired by biological structures, creating materials for reprogramming the immune system through polymer facades designed to rewire immune responses, and working on synthetic tissue scaffolds with site-specific antigen-adjuvant conjugation to enhance antigen presentation…

Research topics

• Materials science
• Organic chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Immunology
• Biotechnology
• Composite material

Selected publications

• Bio-inspired mechanically adaptive materials through vibration-induced crosslinking

  Nature Materials · 2021 · 135 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Immunostimulatory Polymers as Adjuvants, Immunotherapies, and Delivery Systems

  Macromolecules · 2022 · 76 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Activating innate immunity in a controlled manner is necessary for the development of next-generation therapeutics. Adjuvants, or molecules that modulate the immune response, are critical components of vaccines and immunotherapies. While small molecules and biologics dominate the adjuvant market, emerging evidence supports the use of immunostimulatory polymers in therapeutics. Such polymers can stabilize and deliver cargo while stimulating the immune system by functioning as pattern recognition…

  DOI

• <i>In Vitro</i> and <i>in Vivo</i> Analyses of the Effects of Source, Length, and Charge on the Cytotoxicity and Immunocompatibility of Cellulose Nanocrystals

  ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering · 2021 · 45 citations

  immune response toward charged CNCs in these experiments supports their use in future biological studies.

  DOI

• Direct-bonded diamond membranes for heterogeneous quantum and electronic technologies

  Nature Communications · 2024-10-10 · 38 citations

  articleOpen access

  Diamond has superlative material properties for a broad range of quantum and electronic technologies. However, heteroepitaxial growth of single crystal diamond remains limited, impeding integration and evolution of diamond-based technologies. Here, we directly bond single-crystal diamond membranes to a wide variety of materials including silicon, fused silica, sapphire, thermal oxide, and lithium niobate. Our bonding process combines customized membrane synthesis, transfer, and dry surface funct…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A fluorescent-protein spin qubit

  Nature · 2025-08-20 · 20 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Determining the Mechanism of Activation of Linked Agonists Synergies

  NIH · $2.4M · 2016–2021

• Directing The Immune System Via Polymeric Combinations of Molecular Signals

  NIH · $2.3M · 2017–2018

• Mechanically Controlled Polymerization via Piezo-reduction of Copper

  NSF · $450k · 2017–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Matthew B. Francis

  University of California, Berkeley

  40 shared

• Saikat Manna

  GreenLight Biosciences (United States)

  27 shared

• Rachel C. Steinhardt

  University of Chicago

  23 shared

• Rebecca A. Scheck

  Tufts University

  20 shared

• Du T. Nguyen

  19 shared

• Brittany A. Moser

  University of Chicago

  18 shared

• Joshua M. Gilmore

  Stowers Institute for Medical Research

  16 shared

• Neel Joshi

  Northeastern University

  16 shared

Labs

• Esser-Kahn GroupPI

Similar researchers at University of Chicago

• Melody Swartzh-110
• Giulia Gallih-99
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