The Humans of the Wyss (HOW) series features members of the Wyss community discussing their work, the influences that shape them as professionals, and their collaborations at the Wyss Institute and beyond.
As a kid, Vinny Chandran Suja had no interest in biology. Instead, his math and science acumen led him to pursue degrees in mechanical and chemical engineering, studying non-living systems. But, after a sudden death in the family and with a father-in-law suffering from Parkinson’s disease, he decided it was time to go from wishing for a better future to creating one. Now, he’s focused on understanding the way Cellular “Backpacks” interact with cells to fine-tune this innovation for drug delivery, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications. Learn more about Vinny and his work in this month’s Humans of the Wyss.
What are you working on?
I’m working on a platform technology developed in the lab of Wyss Core Faculty member Samir Mitragotri called Cellular “Backpacks.” Backpacks are disc-shaped microparticles that can attach to a cell’s surface and hitch a ride, while avoiding internalization. These particles can be loaded with drugs and contrast agents, or surface-engineered to directly modulate cells, thus opening new possibilities respectively for cell-based drug delivery, diagnostics, and cellular therapies.
I am focused on understanding the way these backpacks interact with the cells through a combination of experiments and mathematical modeling. I’m asking questions such as, how do hydrodynamics stresses, such as those encountered in blood circulation, influence the adhesion of backpacks to cells? What is happening in this contact region between the backpacks and the cell surface? How do backpacks affect the dynamics of important macromolecules on the cell membrane? Answering these questions will yield a deeper understanding of how to control certain cellular behavior using backpacks, and enable us to make backpacks more reliable.
What real-world problem does this solve?
This platform technology is poised to solve multiple problems in healthcare. Two of the most persistent challenges in medicine are accurately diagnosing diseased regions in the body and selectively getting drugs to those areas. We can address both of those problems with backpacks attached to living immune cells. The work I’ve been most closely involved with is led by Lily Wang and uses backpacks loaded with an MRI contrast agent to diagnose traumatic brain injury. Another work I’ve been affiliated with is led by Neha Kapate. We recently obtained impressive results using backpacks to deliver anti-inflammatory drugs to the brain and treat multiple sclerosis. And that’s just the start. There’s even more work coming out of the lab broadly looking at how to target other diseases such as cancer by attaching backpacks to different types of immune cells.
What inspired you to get into this field?
Growing up, I thought that anything related to biology had to do with blood, and I didn’t want any part of that. So, for my undergraduate and master’s degrees I studied mechanical engineering.
Things, however, changed over the course of my Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Stanford University. My father-in-law’s ever-worsening Parkinson’s disease started to drive family conversations about how research could help him. And then my cousin, who was more like my brother, unexpectedly passed away back in India. In between episodes of guilt and sorrow, I reflected on previous discussions with my family, and seriously considered how I could contribute to the science of improving human health. Though my Ph.D. research looked at fundamental questions in non-living systems, it had practical applications for drug transport across biological barriers. While looking for opportunities in this domain, I came across this technology bordering on science fiction called Cellular “Backpacks,” developed by Samir Mitragotri, that captured my imagination.
After finishing my Ph.D. and dedicating my thesis to my cousin, I reached out to Samir. Even though I had no drug delivery background, Samir fortunately saw that I could contribute my non-traditional skills and perspective to uncover new insights into biophysical processes central to the cellular backpack work. He agreed to let me join his lab as a postdoc. A few months before starting at the Wyss, my father-in-law passed away, but the feeling of contributing more directly to improving human health, and perhaps saving someone’s brother or father-in-law in the future, is uplifting. Tackling problems at the intersection of bioengineering and chemical engineering has also proven to be unexpectedly satisfying.
Tackling problems at the intersection of bioengineering and chemical engineering has proven to be unexpectedly satisfying.
What continues to motivate and excite you?
The potential of this platform technology to super-charge the field of cell-based therapies and open new possibilities for drug delivery and diagnostics is exciting. I am equally enthusiastic about opportunities to pursue fundamental scientific research with backpacks – for example, we could use magnetically actuated backpacks to probe the mechanical properties of cell membranes and enable the selective patterning of cells. This intersection of biology, chemistry, and engineering opens a huge floodgate of questions that I am eager to pursue.
Working with people who share similar interests, experiences, and backgrounds has also been very motivating. I often get to learn about the deeply personal stories that drive my colleagues at Wyss, constantly reminding me of the urgent need for novel technologies to improve human health.
What are some of the challenges that you face?
Technology-wise, one of the key challenges is scalability. I’m mostly involved in single-cell testing, which is a lot easier. Colleagues have taken this multiple steps further, with animal studies, but more scalability tests need to be done before we can get it to humans. We also need further reliability testing to make sure the backpacks stay with the cells in different parts of the body, particularly in tissues.
This technology is pushing the boundaries of drug delivery. Very few microparticle-based technologies have been successfully translated to the clinic, so the whole field itself is very nascent. There are a lot of unknowns going forward.
Whenever I do face challenges in the lab, it’s helpful to zoom out, remember my motivations, and focus on the bigger picture and potential impact of our technology.
Whenever I do face challenges in the lab, it’s helpful to zoom out, remember my motivations, and focus on the bigger picture and potential impact of our technology.
Why did you want to work at the Wyss?
The excellent shared facilities, particularly the imaging core, first attracted me to the Wyss. Early in my time in Samir’s lab, I faced several challenges in designing imaging experiments with live cells in the presence of fluid flows. I sent an email to the folks in the Wyss’ imaging core, and they were super helpful. We had multiple brainstorming sessions over the phone and came up with ideas that were very useful in designing my experiments. Over the years, I came to appreciate the Wyss more because of the amazing people and the wonderful community.
One thing that is unique to the Wyss as a research institution at this scale is how holistic it is. At many places you might feel like a small cog in a big machine, but at the Wyss it does not feel that way at all.
What is unique about the Wyss and how has it impacted your work?
One thing that is unique to the Wyss as a research institution at this scale is how holistic it is. At many places you might feel like a small cog in a big machine, but at the Wyss it does not feel that way at all. It not only has outstanding scientists and shared facilities, but also excellent resources for communicating and translating science. The latter has had a major impact on elevating my research. Working with the communications team during my preparation to present at the annual retreat was fun and informative. I learned helpful strategies to convey my research to a broad audience, which helps me engage people better at conferences, seminars, and beyond.
How have your previous work and personal experiences shaped your approach to your work today?
I view bioengineering through a chemical engineer’s lens. From this perspective backpacks are simply topologically engineered colloidal particles with interfacially grafted peptide brushes that can self-assemble on cell surfaces. This perspective has enabled me to leverage fundamental chemical engineering principles, particularly from colloidal and interfacial science, to enhance the understanding of cell-backpack interactions.
I have also benefited immensely from having great mentors, and it is a privilege to have opportunities to pay it forward. Mentoring students is an important part of research that has significantly influenced my approach to work. In addition to shaping the next generation of researchers, mentoring has significantly enhanced my own approaches by teaching me how to break down research questions into manageable parts and communicate findings in an accessible manner.
When you’re not in the lab, how do you like to spend your time?
I enjoy spending time with my family outdoors. We often walk or jog along the Charles River. The views are great, and the cardio doesn’t hurt either. Even though I’m not that good, I also love playing the guitar, especially country songs.
What is something unique or fun about you that someone wouldn’t know from your resume?
I’ve been up and down the Eiffel Tower no less than seven times. I did my master’s degree in Paris, so I had ample opportunity. Also, my wife and I are huge amusement park aficionados. We love visiting more established theme parks, like Disney, and smaller ones, like Carnival by the Sea. Disney’s Animal Kingdom is my favorite.
If you had to choose an entirely different career path, what would it be?
In a parallel universe, I’d be a guitarist in a popular band.
What does it feel like to be working on cutting-edge technology that has the potential to have a real and significant impact on people’s lives and society?
Being able to create the future, rather than wishing for it, is empowering.
Being able to create the future, rather than wishing for it, is empowering. The opportunity to inspire and equip the new generation of researchers to continue building a healthy future is a shared privilege that I don’t take lightly.