Antibody Engineering Hackathon August 2023

The 3rd Hackathon for Developing CURES in Antibody Engineering will take place August 7-10th, 2023.

Information about last year's hackathon can be found at Antibody Engineering Hackathon August 2022

This work is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program (DUE 2055036).

This event is free but you are expected to make a time commitment of about 8 hours a day and attend an orientation session before the event. 

As a Hackathon participant, you will:

• work in a team to research and develop antibody-related student research projects,
• learn about antibodies and how they can be engineered
• Learn about the use of antibodies in diagnostics, research, and therapeutics,
• develop new skills in immunology-related bioinformatics programs and databases,
• learn about new laboratory techniques for working with antibodies, and
• become part of an exciting, fun, and collaborative community.

Faculty, students, and industry members with varying levels of experience in working with antibodies are encouraged to apply.  Participants will be selected based on experience and motivation to attend. Applicants from community colleges will receive the highest priority. Participants must be US-based. The event is virtual.

This year's projects are still in the works.  Want to try making antibodies in algae?  Or try something with nanobodies?  Let us know!  If you have a project in mind, please consider volunteering as a team leader.  The more team leaders we have, the more projects we can do.

Do you have an idea for a project?  Send your proposal to Sandra@DigitalWorldBiology.com 

This year's projects:

• Affordable Antibody Engineering:  (ongoing, level = beginner - advanced) This project focuses on developing a low-tech antibody screening method for undergraduate classrooms. This method will enable academic institutions with low budgets to offer antibody engineering experience to their students without expensive equipment. 
   
• Immune-profiling:  (level = more advanced) This project involves using datasets from sequencing the Immunome. In immune-profiling, large numbers of genes for B cell and T cell receptors are sequenced. The results can provide insights into the immune response.  For example, we can learn about the kinds of T cells that attack tumors and discover new targets for therapies.  
   
• Pathogens vs Antibodies:  (ongoing, level = medium - advanced) This project focuses on identifying the interactions between antibodies and pathogens and determining if sequence changes will allow pathogens to escape the immune system.  This project builds on earlier work with SARS-CoV-2, commercial antibodies, and NextStrain.org.
• Engineering Therapeutic Antibodies: (new, level = beginner - advanced) Participants will locate and characterize therapeutic antibodies, identify problems with developability and work out plans for improving antibody characteristics.
   
• Immmune Epitope Database research projects:  (ongoing, level = medium - advanced)  The IEDB (Immune Epitope Data Base) is an important tool for identifying and exploring the sequences and substances that are recognized by antibodies and T cell receptors. This project will address developing course-based research projects related to IEDB.
   
• NIST CHO cells & Monoclonal Antibodies: (new, level = medium - advanced) work on research projects related to NIST CHO cells and producing monoclonal antibodies.  This project is perfect for faculty who are interested in teaching cell and gene therapy and / or biomanufacturing.

If you have questions or need additional information, please email sandra@digitalworldbiology.com