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School of Engineering

People Steven Little

Assistant Professor and Bicentennial Alumni Faculty Fellow

Departments of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Immunology, and Medicine

slittle@engr.pitt.edu

Phone: 412-624-9614

Fax: 412-624-9639

Office: 1237 Benedum Hall / 5057 BST3

Education

PhD Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005

BE, Chemical Engineering, Youngstown State University, 2000

Professional Interests

Prior to joining the Department of Chemical Engineering as an assistant professor in Janurary, Dr. Little was a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Langer where he taught controlled drug delivery and also served as a consultant for several pharmaceutical companies.

Professor Little’s PhD work revolved around the delivery of genetic vaccines with special emphasis on non-viral, particulate formulations. His current interests include controlled delivery for tissue engineering, immunotherapeutics, and biomimetic materials.

Specific research project areas in Professor Little’s lab include:

  • Controlled delivery of targeted stimulus as smart immunotherapeutics
  • Non-viral gene delivery to mononuclear cells
  • Micro and Nanoparticles for genetic vaccine delivery
  • Development of biomimetic polymers for tissue engineering
  • Controlled release of bioactive molecules for de novo bone formation
  • Study of immune cell chemotaxis (directed migration)
  • Tumor immunotherapy through regulatory T-cell manipulation

Selected Publications

Little, S.R., Lynn, D.M., Ge, Q., Anderson D.G., Puram S.V., Chen J., Eisen H.N., Langer R.. (2004) Novel microparticles enhance the potency of non-viral genetic vaccines (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(26), 9534-9539).

Haining, N.W., Anderson, D.G., Little, S.R., Bergwelt, M., Cardoso, A.A., Alves, P., Kosmatopoulos, K., Nadler, L.M., and Langer, R., Kohane, D.S. (2004) pH-triggered microparticles for vaccination. (Journal of Immunology, 15;173(4), 2578-2585). Highlighted in: A Synthetic Solution to Gene Delivery. (2004) Nature Methods 1(1)), 9.

Little, S.R., Lynn, D.M., Puram, S.V., Langer, R.S., (2005) Formulation and Characterization of Poly(ß-amino ester) microparticles for genetic vaccine delivery. (Journal of Controlled Release), 107(3), 449-62)

Little, S.R., Langer, R., (2005) Advancements in non-viral delivery of cancer genetic vaccines. (Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, 99, 93-118).

Little, S. R., Anderson, D. G., Langer, R. “Non-Viral Genetic Vaccines for Cancer.” in Gene Therapy for Cancer, Humana Press, New Jersey, 2005, (In Press).

Shenoy, D., Little, S.R., Langer, R., Amiji, M. Poly(Ethylene Oxide)-Modified Poly(ß-Amino Ester) Nanoparticles as a pH-Sensitive System for Tumor-Targeted Delivery of Hydrophobic Drugs: Part I. In Vitro Evaluations. (Molecular Pharmaceutics, 2(5) 357-66).

Shenoy, D., Little, S.R., Langer, R., Amiji, M. Poly(Ethylene Oxide)-Modified Poly(ß-Amino Ester) Nanoparticles as a pH-Sensitive System for Tumor-Targeted Delivery of Hydrophobic Drugs: Part II. In Vivo Distribution and Tumor Localization Studies. (Pharmaceutical Research, 22(12), 2107-14).

Pfeifer, B.A., Burdick, J.A., Little, S.R., Langer, R., (2005) Poly(ester- anhydride):poly(ß-amino ester) Micro- and Nanospheres: DNA Encapsulation and Cellular Transfection. (International Journal of Pharmaceutics,304(1-2), 210-9).

Wood, K.C., Little, S.R., Langer, R., Hammond, P.T. A New Family of Hierarchically Self-Assembling Linear-Dendritic Hybrid Polymers for Highly Efficient, Targeted Gene Delivery (Angewandte Chemie,44(41), 6704-8). Highlighted in : A Synthetic Solution to Gene Delivery. (2005) Nature Methods 2(11), 808.

Zugates, G.T., Little, S.R., Anderson, D.G., Langer, R., (2005) Poly(β-amino ester)s for DNA Delivery. (Israel Journal of Chemistry, 45: 477-85).

 

Devalapally, H., Shenoy, D., Little, S.R., Langer, R., Amiji, M. (2006) Poly(Ethylene Oxide)-Modified Poly(Beta-Amino Ester) Nanoparticles as a pH-Sensitive System for Tumor-Targeted Delivery of Hydrophobic Drugs: Part 3. Therapeutic Efficacy and Toxicity Studies in Ovarian Cancer Xenograft Model (Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, July 22, Epub ahead of print).

 

Zugates, G. T., Anderson, D. G., Little, S.R., Lawhorn, E.B., Langer, R., (2006) Synthesis of Poly(b- amino ester)s with Thiol-Reactive Side Chains for DNA Delivery (Journal of the American Chemical Society, Sept. 12th, Epub ahead of print).

Choleris, E., Little, S.R., Mong, J.A., Puram, S.V., Langer, R., Pfaff, D.W. Functional mRNA for oxytocin receptor required in the amygdala to support social recognition (accepted for publication, Endocrinology).

 

Benedum Hall

Dedicated in 1971, Benedum Hall is home to exploration and discovery.

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