Dr. Akash Gupta

Assistant Professor
Presidential Frontier Faculty Fellow
CPRIT Scholar

Office Location S230, Engineering Building 1

Fax 713-743-4323

Email agupta78 [at] central.uh.edu

Education

Postdoctoral Associate, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2020-25)

Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2019)

Integrated M.Sc. Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad (2013)

Research Interests

Our research lies at the interface of biomaterials, engineering, drug delivery, and immunology to develop next-generation vaccines and immunotherapies. We design nanoscale and nucleic acid-based platforms to advance cancer therapy, combat infectious diseases, and treat genetic disorders. Major areas of focus include:

Synthetic Chemistry for Designing Delivery Vehicles for New Therapies
Effective delivery to extrahepatic organs and specific cell types remains a critical challenge for addressing unmet clinical needs. Modulating the chemical design of delivery vehicles can substantially enhance cargo encapsulation, targeting specificity, and tissue penetration. We systematically explore this design space by incorporating diverse chemical functionalities to interrogate nano–bio interactions and uncover principles that govern delivery. These efforts aim to enable precise therapeutic delivery for applications in cancer, infectious diseases, and genetic disorders.
Immune Engineering for Vaccines and Cancer Immunotherapy
Engineering immune responses through precise modulation of innate pathways and antigen design is central to advancing next-generation immunotherapies. We develop nucleic acid–based approaches to reprogram immune cells toward phenotypes that enhance antigen presentation and T cell priming. In parallel, we design antigens to elicit broadly protective antibody and T cell responses, including personalized strategies. These efforts aim to advance vaccines and immunotherapies for cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmune disorders.
Genetic Medicine-Based Strategies to Combat Bacterial Infections
The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections represents a critical challenge for addressing unmet clinical needs. We develop genetic medicine approaches to overcome multidrug resistance through multi-epitope, pan-strain vaccine design targeting diverse virulence factors. In parallel, we engineer immune cells for targeted clearance of infected cells while minimizing disruption to the beneficial microbiome. Together, these strategies aim to enable effective and durable therapies against multidrug-resistant pathogens.

Awards & Honors

CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. (2026)

KI Marble Center Symposium, Best Poster Award. (2025)

KI Joseph C. Jefferds, Jr. Research Travel Award. (2024)

Koch Institute Marble Center Convergence Scholar. (2022)

Marvin D. Rausch Scholarship Award, UMass Amherst. (2018)

Gordon Chair Scholarship, GRC Drug Carriers in Medicine and Biology. (2018)

CBD Microgrant, awarded by Centre for Bioactive Delivery at UMass-Amherst. (2017)

INSPIRE Scholarship, awarded by Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. (2009-13)

ISMU merit cum means scholarship. (2008)

Google Scholar

Patents

Anderson, D.G.; Gupta, A.; Reed, K.P.; Weissleder, R.; Garris, C.; Das, R.; US Patent App. 63/746,840, Filed January 2025, “mRNA-based Myeloid Cell Stimulation Enhances Therapeutic Efficacy”
Date: 01/01/2025
Anderson, D.G.; Gupta, A.; Rudra, A.; Reed, K.P.; US Provisional Application No. 63/614,873, Filed December 2023, “Biodegradable lipids and formulations for delivery of mRNA.”
Date: 12/01/2023
Anderson, D.G.; Gupta, A.; Rudra, A.; Reed, K.P.; US Patent App. 18/396,181, Filed December 2023, “Biodegradable lipids and formulations for intramuscular, in vitro, and ex vivo transfection of mRNA.”
Date: 12/01/2023
Rotello, V. M.; Landis, R. F.; Gupta, A.; US Patent App. 2017/044312, Filed July 2017, “Polymer nanoparticle, polymer composition, method of making a polymer nanoparticle, method for treatment of bacterial biofilms, and method for detection of bacterial biofilms.”
Date: 07/01/2017
Rotello, V. M.; Landis, R. F.; Gupta, A.; Lee, Y.; US Patent App. 2016/047134, Filed August 2016, “Stabilized polymeric nanocapsules, dispersions comprising the nanocapsules, and methods for the treatment of bacterial biofilms.
Date: 08/01/2016

Selected Publications

Rudra, A.†, Gupta, A.†, Reed, K.†, Deik, A., Min, J., Mansour, H. M. A., Nguyen, Q. T. C., Danko, A., Hu, Y., Berger, A., Prado, M., Beck, A., Clish, C. B., Klauda, J. B., Langer, R., & Anderson, D. G., (2025). Degradable cyclic amino alcohol ionizable lipids as vectors for potent influenza mRNA vaccines. Nature Nanotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-02044-6, 2025
Gupta, A., Rudra, A., Reed, K., Langer, R., & Anderson, D. G., (2024). Advanced technologies for the development of infectious disease vaccines. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 23(12), 914–938. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41573-024-01041-z, 2024
Gupta, A., Das, R., Makabenta, J. M., Gupta, A., Zhang, X., Jeon, T., Huang, R., Liu, Y., Gopalakrishnan, S., Milán, R. C., & Rotello, V. M., (2021). Erythrocyte-mediated delivery of bioorthogonal nanozymes for selective targeting of bacterial infections. Materials Horizons, 8(12), 3424–3431. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1mh01408k, 2021
Gupta, A., Mumtaz, S., Li, C.-H., Hussain, I., & Rotello, V. M., (2019). Combatting antibiotic-resistant bacteria using nanomaterials. Chem. Soc. Rev, 48, 415. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cs00748e, 2019
Gupta, A., Das, R., Yesilbag Tonga, G., Mizuhara, T., & Rotello, V. M., (2018). Charge-Switchable Nanozymes for Bioorthogonal Imaging of Biofilm-Associated Infections. ACS Nano, 12(1), 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.7b07496, 2018
Gupta, A., Landis, R. F., Li, C. H., Schnurr, M., Das, R., Lee, Y. W., Yazdani, M., Liu, Y., Kozlova, A., & Rotello, V. M. , (2018). Engineered Polymer Nanoparticles with Unprecedented Antimicrobial Efficacy and Therapeutic Indices against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria and Biofilms. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140(38), 12137–12143. https://doi.org/10.1021/JACS.8B06961, 2018