About Me

Hi! My name is Ryan Lyppens, and I am a first-year PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania studying Cancer Biology. I am very motivated help patients by developing more effective immunotherapies. My research interests are cell therapy, protein engineering, and the tumor microenvironment. 

My interest in biomedical engineering (BME) started during my sophomore year of high school at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. I wanted to do anything that might ameliorate the situation, so I entered the NY Academy of Sciences Combating COVID-19 Challenge. I led an international team that designed a reusable, antiviral material that could be used to make personal protective equipment. 

That experience convinced me to pursue a BME degree at Cornell University. I joined the Bonassar Lab, which investigates regenerative treatment options for osteoarthritis. My personal focus has been investigating lubricin-mediated increases of hyaluronic acid viscosity at the articular surface which enable viscosupplement solutions to achieve better lubrication performance than would be predicted by their bulk viscosity alone.

During summers 2023-2025, I have interned for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and LIAISON. I worked in the Cheung Lab at MSK to evaluate the effectiveness of antibody-based immunotherapies to treat Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors, a rare and aggressive pediatric sarcoma affecting the abdomen. This mostly involved mouse work, but I have also performed in silico antibody engineering to generate therapeutic candidates for colorectal, gastric, and pancreatic cancer. At LIAISON, I developed an automated toilet sensor for chronic kidney disease to enhance early detection and improve patient outcomes. I also volunteered at a hospital in Kosrae, Micronesia, where I helped digitize medical records for healthcare infrastructure modernization. 

As a senior at Cornell, I joined the Lammerding Lab to further my translational research experience. My project has been evaluating the safety and efficacy of LINC complex disruption as a treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy and muscular dystrophy.

I just began my PhD at UPenn in August 2026. My rotations are with the Mossé lab, Busino lab, and Katona lab.