Kristy M. Ainslie

Kristy M. Ainslie
CitizenshipUSA
EducationPennsylvania State University, Michigan State University
Scientific career
FieldsEngineering, Pharmacy
Michael Pishko
Other academic advisors
Tejal A. Desai, John Tarbell
Websiteainslielab.web.unc.edu

Kristy M. Ainslie is a Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor and Director of Emerging Educational Programs in the Pharmaceutical Sciences in pharmaceutical science at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy and former chair of the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics. She is also joint in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology and affiliated faculty in the UNC/NC State joint Biomedical Engineering department. Additionally, she is part of UNC's Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program (BBSP). She is co-founder of the company IMMvention Therapeutix.[1][2]

Ainslie serves on the editorial boards of iPharma, Journal of Controlled Release, and International Journal of Pharmaceutics.[3][4][5]

Background

Ainslie earned degrees in chemical engineering from Michigan State University, and the Pennsylvania State University College of Engineering. Her early research focused on mechanobiology, nanomaterials, and drug delivery. She previously held a faculty appointment at Ohio State University and currently holds positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[6][7]

Career

Ainslie's research focuses on polymer-based drug delivery systems, particularly acetalated dextran, for applications in vaccines, immunotherapy, and infectious disease.[8] Her laboratory has developed acetalated dextran variants with tunable degradation rates and release properties, as well as microparticle and nanofiber formulations for the controlled delivery of antigens, adjuvants, and other therapeutics.[8]

She has received National Institutes of Health funding since 2011 to develop antigen-specific immunotherapies for multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes intended to induce immune tolerance rather than broadly suppress the immune system,[9][10] as well as biomaterial-based drug delivery scaffolds for glioblastoma.[11]

In 2026, Ainslie became lead investigator on National Institutes of Health Program Project grant P01 CA298971, a multi-institutional award to develop biomaterial approaches for enhancing chimeric antigen receptor T-cell and CAR-NKT cell therapies for glioblastoma, involving collaborators from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the UNC School of Medicine, and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.[12][13]

Awards and Honors

  • 2007: Controlled Release Society–Capsugel Post-Doc Award for Innovative Aspects of Oral Drug Delivery & Absorption.[14]
  • 2009: Controlled Release Society Outstanding Oral Drug Delivery Award.[15]
  • 2012: James M. Siddens Distinguished Faculty Advising Award, Ohio State University Council of Graduate Students.[16]
  • 2021: Elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.[17]
  • 2022: Inducted into the Controlled Release Society College of Fellows.[18]
  • 2023: Sato Memorial International Award.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "UNC Startups". UNC Office of Technology Commercialization. UNC.edu. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  2. ↑ "Paper Digest". Paper Digest. paperdigest.org. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  3. ↑ "Editorial board - iPharma". ScienceDirect. Elsevier. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  4. ↑ "Editorial board - Journal of Controlled Release". ScienceDirect. Elsevier. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  5. ↑ "Editorial board - International Journal of Pharmaceutics". ScienceDirect. Elsevier. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  6. ↑ "Kristy Ainslie". Mothers in Science. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  7. ↑ "Kristy M. Ainslie". Controlled Release Society. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Kristy Ainslie, PhD". UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  9. ↑ "Ainslie Awarded $1.89M NIH Grant to Develop Multiple Sclerosis Vaccine". UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. October 2018. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  10. ↑ "Kristy Ainslie receives $1.5 million from NIH to combat type 1 diabetes". UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  11. ↑ "Kristy Ainslie works to develop new therapy for glioblastoma patients, receives $1.7 million from NIH to pursue research". UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  12. ↑ "UNC thinktank engineers immune cells to target brain cancer". UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2026-04-29. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  13. ↑ "Project #1P01CA298971-01: [project title as listed]". NIH RePORTER. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  14. ↑ "Kristy M. Ainslie". Controlled Release Society. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  15. ↑ "Kristy M. Ainslie". Controlled Release Society. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  16. ↑ "James M. Siddens Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising". The Ohio State University Council of Graduate Students. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  17. ↑ "Kristy M. Ainslie, Ph.D. COF-6001". American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  18. ↑ "Kristy is a CRS 2022 College of Fellows Inductee". Ainslie Lab. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  19. ↑ "Dr. Kristy Ainslie Presented with the 2023 Sato Memorial International Award". NIAID CIVICs. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
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