Dr. Tania Lopez Silva

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Professor Lopez-Silva designs advanced biomaterials that mimic and interact with immune system biological environments. Her research focuses on supramolecular hydrogels—soft materials made from self-assembling molecules and peptides. She explores the chemical functionality in the design of peptide hydrogels to influence biological activity and the host immune response, specifically in areas like tissue regeneration, wound healing, and cancer immunotherapy. Her work combines supramolecular chemistry, peptide chemistry, immunology, and materials science to develop new materials that address critical health challenges and enable advanced bioengineering models. At MIT, her group, the Immunomodulatory Biomimetic Materials (IMBM) Lab, focuses on understanding key factors and properties that allow materials to control biological systems, integrating knowledge for the targeted rational design of bioactive materials, with an initial focus on immunomodulation. They are dedicated to developing advanced biomaterials for a range of biomedical applications, including cancer immunotherapy and tissue engineering.

Research Interests

Experience

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

2020-01-01 — 2025-07-01

National Cancer Institute • USA

Developed novel materials for therapeutics delivery and evaluated material properties—specifically charge—that affected immune response of peptide hydrogels.

Awards

#2025

Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE)

#2023

Postdoc Faculty (P2F) Workshop

#2020

Gordon Research Seminar Award

#2019

Richard Turner Memorial Award

#2018

Harry B. Weiser Leadership Award