Stefan H. Bossmann, PhD

Professional Background

I am a University Distinguished Professor of Kansas and Chair of the Department of Cancer Biology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. My research career has focused on translating chemistry, nanotechnology, and advanced imaging into new approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Since beginning my independent research career in Germany in the early 1990s, I have built an interdisciplinary program spanning nanomedicine, molecular imaging, biosensing, targeted drug delivery, and cancer therapeutics.​​

• PhD, Organic Synthesis, University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, Saarland
• PhD, Nanotechnology, Universität Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Physical organic Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Columbia University in the City of New York, New York City, New York

Research

Overview

A central theme of my current research is the development of programmable therapeutic and diagnostic platforms that integrate molecular targeting, advanced materials, and biological systems. My laboratory develops nanobiosensors and liquid-biopsy technologies for early disease detection, biodegradable nanocarriers for targeted and image-guided drug delivery, and strategies for improving cellular immunotherapies for solid tumors. A particular focus is the use of immune cells as both therapeutic agents and targeted delivery vehicles, including approaches in which CAR-T cells carry and locally release small-molecule drugs within the tumor microenvironment. These studies are directed toward overcoming tumor heterogeneity, immunosuppression, and other major barriers to effective treatment of solid tumors.

Advanced imaging is an integral component of this work. As Director of the Preclinical Imaging Shared Resource at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, I work extensively with ultra-high-field MRI, micro-CT, optical imaging, and photoacoustic imaging to characterize tumor biology, therapeutic response, drug distribution, and treatment-related changes in the tumor microenvironment. Integrating molecular imaging with nanotechnology and drug delivery allows us to follow therapeutic processes noninvasively and to develop increasingly quantitative and personalized approaches to cancer treatment.

My research is highly collaborative and translational. As Co-Leader of the Drug Discovery, Delivery and Experimental Therapeutics research program at the NCI-designated University of Kansas Cancer Center and Deputy Director of the Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation, I work with cancer biologists, clinicians, chemists, engineers, imaging scientists, and industry partners to move promising technologies from fundamental discovery toward clinical application. My experience in academic research, technology development, intellectual property, and industry has reinforced my conviction that successful translation requires sustained interaction among basic scientists, clinicians, engineers, and commercial partners.

Throughout my career, I have sought to create research environments in which disciplinary boundaries are deliberately crossed, and students, trainees, faculty, and collaborators are encouraged to contribute their complementary expertise. My long-term objective is to combine cancer biology, advanced materials, molecular imaging, and programmable drug delivery to develop therapeutic technologies capable of detecting disease earlier, targeting tumors more precisely, and adapting treatment to the biological characteristics of individual cancers.

• Njoka Muturi, Covarrubias-Zambrano Obdulia, Tripathi Aprajita, Santana-Magal Nadine, Jeppson John, Akhavan David, Pyaram Kalyani, Bossmann StefanH., Kamath Divya. 2026. Augmenting the Cytotoxicity of Anticancer Peptide K6L9 by In Vitro-Synthesized mRNA. Applied Sciences, 16 (7). https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/16/7/3288
• Yadav Monika, Akhavan David, Subham Siddharth, Jeppson John, Zamler Daniel, Santana-Magal Nadine, Tinoco Omar, Szarejko John, Gibson Garrett, Myers Doug, Bossmann Stefan, Pyaram Kalyani, Yadav VivekaNand. 2025. EXTH-116. Potent anti-tumor efficacy of B7-H3 CAR-T cells in H3G34-mutant Diffuse Hemispheric Gliomas. Neuro-Oncology, 27 (Supplement_5), v366-v366. https://doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noaf201.1449
• Covarrubias-Zambrano O, Agarwal D, Lewis-Wambi J, Neri R, Jewell A, Natarajan B, Bossmann SH. 2025. Few-Layer Graphene-Based Optical Nanobiosensors for the Early-Stage Detection of Ovarian Cancer Using Liquid Biopsy and an Active Learning Strategy.. Cells, 14 (5)
• Challapalli RS, Hong C, Sorushanova A, Covarrubias-Zambrano O, Mullen N, Feely S, Covarrubias J, Varghese SN, Hantel C, Owens P, O'Halloran M, Prakash P, Bossmann SH, Dennedy MC. 2024. Adrenocortical Cancer Cell uptake of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles.. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
• Dempsey PW, Sandu CM, Gonzalezirias R, Hantula S, Covarrubias-Zambrano O, Bossmann SH, Nagji AS, Veeramachaneni NK, Ermerak NO, Kocakaya D, Lacin T, Yildizeli B, Lilley P, Wen SWC, Nederby L, Hansen TF, Hilberg O. 2024. Description of an activity-based enzyme biosensor for lung cancer detection.. Communications medicine, 4 (1), 37
• Payne MM, Mali I, Shrestha TB, Basel MT, Timmerman S, Pyle M, Sebek J, Prakash P, Bossmann SH. 2024. T(1)-mapping characterization of two tumor types.. Biophysical reports, 4 (2), 100157
• Payne Macy, Mali Ivina, Mueller Thomas, Cain Mary, Segev Ronen, Bossmann StefanH.. 2023. Super-resolution reconstruction in ultrahigh-field MRI. Biophysical Reports, 3 (2), 100107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpr.2023.100107
• Agarwal Deepesh, Covarrubias-Zambrano Obdulia, Bossmann StefanH., Natarajan Balasubramaniam. 2022. Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancers Using Liquid Biopsies and Hierarchical Decision Structure. IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine, 10, 1-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/jtehm.2022.3186836
• Murphy CathyJ., Arkin MichelleR., Jenkins Yunju , Ghatlia Naresh , Bossmann StefanH., Turro NicholasJ., Barton JaquelineK.. 1993. Long-range photoinduced electron transfer through a DNA helix.. Science (262), 1025-9