Dr. Lawrence A. Stern is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering at the University of South Florida. He leads a research group focused on developing the next generation of cell-based immunotherapies by investigating protein engineering problems that affect the function of engineered immune cells. The Stern Lab is developing new high-throughput screening techniques for protein selection and synthetic receptor development as well as re-engineering natural molecules for therapeutic benefit. This work has been recognized by support from the NSF CAREER Award, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences MIRA R35, and the ORAU Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. Dr. Stern earned his B.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from Virginia Tech. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, where he developed high-throughput protein selection techniques that enriched novel binding interactions on the surfaces of cancer cell monolayers. He completed postdoctoral study in the T Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratory at City of Hope, where he focused on understanding the effects of antigen binding affinity and receptor biophysical properties on the development of new chimeric antigen receptors for engineered T cell therapy. During his time at City of Hope, Dr. Stern's work was supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of California.