People with hard-to-treat asthma often have to use medicines such as systemic steroids that broadly suppress the immune system. Ryan M. Pearson, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Bio- and Nano-Technology Center at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), is leading a team of researchers to develop new asthma treatments that don’t compromise patient’s overall immune responsiveness.
“We aim to develop a therapy that specifically retrains the immune system so it can become tolerant of specific allergens that cause a person’s asthma symptoms, without leading to immunosuppression,” said Dr. Pearson. “Our therapy has been designed to target the root cause of asthma in order to create a long-term disease-modifying alternative to lifelong symptom management.”
Dr. Pearson is a chemical engineer with over a decade of experience in biomedical engineering and immunology. His background has allowed him to combine various aspects of engineering with basic science, immunology and clinical translation to develop innovative new immunotherapy approaches to treat asthma.
He has received an American Lung Association Innovation Award to test a new approach using custom-designed, tiny biodegradable particles called nanoparticles (NPs) to target and reprogram immune cell metabolism. These NPs are engineered to carry allergens. This helps the body build tolerance by reducing harmful immune responses without compromising the entire immune system. By using the body’s natural metabolic processes, the strategy aims to restore balance in the lungs to prevent and treat asthma more safely and effectively.
Unlocking Immune System Solutions for Asthma
The immune system has two sides: innate and adaptive. “The innate immune response are the first responders,” Dr. Pearson said. “They are not specific. They can respond almost instantaneously to injury and produce inflammation in response–such as swelling when you get a cut.”
The adaptive immune response is more specialized and takes more time to develop. After initial exposure to an allergen, it creates memory cells that “remember” the allergen. Upon re-exposure, this memory response can become overactive, leading to airway inflammation, mucus overproduction, and the “twitchy” airways characteristic of asthma.
Dr. Pearson’s Lung Association-funded research focuses on how nanoparticles can be developed to simultaneously reprogram dysfunctional innate and allergen-specific adaptive immune responses. “We are trying to harness the crosstalk between the innate and adaptive immune systems,” he said. “We want to control asthma by using nanoparticles to induce specific responses in adaptive immune cells, instead of just suppressing the innate immune system.”
To evaluate the nanoparticles’ effect on asthma, his lab will start with test-tube studies. He will then progress to a mouse model of asthma. “In these studies, we will target the direct delivery of nanoparticles to lung tissue,” Dr. Pearson said. “This is unique because the nanoparticles can be used to reprogram the lung cells, and the lung already has many favorable characteristics to induce tolerogenic immune responses.”
His lab will also team up with noted University of Maryland School of Medicine immunologist Achsah D. Keegan, PhD, who has studied asthmatic responses for more than 25 years. They will study lung function in asthmatic mice who receive treatment. “We will use a special machine that allows us to measure airway resistance and other breathing measures in mice. This will allow us to see if nanoparticle therapy improves lung function,” Dr. Pearson said.
The goal is to develop an inhaled nanoparticle-based medication. “This could really herald a new asthma therapy that no one has ever worked on before,” he said. “It could pave the way for personalized therapies that boost tolerance for many allergens and reduce allergic responses. This would improve the quality of life for people with asthma.”
The research could have implications beyond asthma, Dr. Pearson noted. “We hope to develop an overarching strategy to retrain these immune cells. This could also lead to more precise and long-lasting therapies for other lung-related and immune-related conditions,” he said.
A Grant With Great Impact
Dr. Pearson said the Lung Association award is very meaningful not just to him, but to the students who are working on the project. “These students will get to see the next generation of therapies being identified for asthma,” he said. “The support from the Lung Association really affirms the importance of exploring how these novel ideas can be developed to produce precise and long-lasting therapies for asthma and other lung- and immune-related conditions.”
During this time when research funding is so difficult to obtain, Dr. Pearson said the Lung Association grant is essential. “We are trying to leverage fundamental discoveries to develop improved treatments,” he said. “This research grant is one step toward that goal. It will be an exciting couple of years to see what we can accomplish.”
Blog last updated: May 4, 2026
