Advanced cell therapies can help the body fight disease and repair damaged tissue, but producing them often requires expensive, specialized laboratories and weeks of preparation. What if a small patch could accomplish that work directly inside a patient's body?
Wujin Sun , assistant professor in Virginia Tech's Department of Biological Systems Engineering , has received a five-year, $3.8 million NIH Director's New Innovator Award to investigate that possibility. Sun is one of 42 researchers selected for the 2026 award, which supports exceptionally creative early-career scientists pursuing potentially transformative biomedical research.
Sun's team is developing the "transdermal bioreactor," a minimally invasive patch designed to attract a patient's own cells into a soft material just beneath the skin, reprogram them to fight disease or repair tissue, and gradually release them back into the body.
“Current cell therapies are customized, like suits, and expensive — typically $500,000 per patient. Patients also have to wait weeks for treatment, which can be especially difficult for those with late-stage disease,” Sun said. “Our microneedle patch is more like a T-shirt that anyone can take off the shelf. It integrates the entire cell customization process into a tiny patch, which could significantly reduce the cost and time for patients.”
The researchers will initially focus on two applications: programming cells to attack melanoma, a type of skin cancer, and generating new skin cells to help heal chronic wounds associated with diabetes. They will test the technology in mice to evaluate its effectiveness and safety.
Longer term, the approach could be adapted to treat autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
The project builds on Sun's previous work developing tiny-needle patches, including the iNal patch , which detects fentanyl and releases the overdose-reversal medication naloxone. While both technologies deliver treatment through the skin, the new patch would deliver genetic instructions that effectively turn the body's own cells into medicine.
By moving cell modification from specialized laboratories to the point of care, Sun hopes to make advanced cell therapies faster, less costly, and available to more patients.
"This award gives my team the opportunity and freedom to test a bold idea that would be difficult to pursue through a more traditional research project," Sun said. "I'm excited to see whether we can turn this concept into a new way of making advanced cell therapies more accessible."
The NIH Director's New Innovator Award is part of the NIH Common Fund's High-Risk, High-Reward Research program, which supports exceptionally innovative research with the potential for significant biomedical advances. The award is highly competitive, with just 9 percent of applicants receiving funding from 2021 through 2025.