Robert M. Gower, Ph.D. Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering University of South Carolina Dr. Robert Gower is an assistant professor in the Chemical Engineering Department. His research focuses on understanding the immune system for developing bio-instructive materials that stimulate specific immune responses. His research team aims to control immune cell migration to synthetic micro-environments that are engineered to program and expand regulatory immune cells as a therapeutic tool for inflammatory disease. This research utilizes controlled release of proteins, peptides, and small molecules via a biomaterial to direct regulatory immune cell differentiation, as characterized by epigenetic modification to DNA, transcriptional programs, protein expression, and immunosuppressive function. Dr. Gower employs these technologies in animal disease models with the long-term goal of developing translational therapies for atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cancer. Dr. Gower obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California at Davis.