Millions of people live with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, where the lining of the gut is damaged and often fails to heal even with today’s best medicines. Our team is working toward a new kind of treatment: a swallowable “smart pill” that can sense where inflammation is inside the gut and release tiny nanoparticle medicines right at that spot to help the tissue repair itself.

This is a true team effort across three areas, and students join one of three subteams. On the Biology subteam (Jin Lab), students grow “mini-guts” (organoids) in the lab and work with animal models of gut inflammation, including mice and pigs, to test whether our treatment helps damaged tissue heal in the lab and in living animals. On the Bioengineering subteam (Maisel Lab), students design and build the nanoparticles that carry the medicine through the gut’s protective mucus layer and into the tissue. On the Engineering subteam (Ghodssi and Stine Labs), students help build and test the capsule’s sensing electronics that find inflamed areas and trigger delivery. All three subteams meet together each week, so everyone sees how the pieces connect and learns how a medical technology moves from an idea toward patient care.

You do not need research experience to join. New members start with hands-on training and work alongside experienced students, and over multiple semesters you can take on bigger projects and leadership roles. Our team is mentored by faculty from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the A. James Clark School of Engineering and is part of a UMD Grand Challenges project.