Explore our Research
Engineering Living Medicines Through Biomimetic Nanomaterials
The NanoProBio Lab integrates chemistry, nanotechnology, and bioengineering to create innovative solutions for disease diagnosis and therapy. Our research focuses on designing high-performance nanocatalysts to precisely regulate cellular metabolism and disease progression, developing intelligent nanoprobes for accurate and dynamic diagnosis, and integrating these nanomaterials with living cells to overcome translational barriers of living medicines and unlock their full therapeutic potential. Through these efforts, we aim to advance next-generation bio-nano systems that bridge fundamental discovery and clinical application.
Nanocatalytic medicine
Precise regulation of cellular metabolism and redox balance is fundamental to maintaining health and combating disease. However, conventional catalytic materials often lack the activity, selectivity, and adaptability required for biological applications. Our research aims to develop highly active and selective biofunctional nanocatalysts—including nanozymes, bioorthogonal catalysts, and plasma- or piezoelectric-based nanomaterials—and to create new catalytic systems with enzyme-mimicking reactivity. By emulating natural defense and attack mechanisms, these materials provide powerful strategies to modulate disease progression and enable therapeutic interventions in cancer, inflammation, and infection.
Nanoprobes for bioimaging
Precise and controllable sensing of biological microenvironments is essential for accurate disease diagnosis and effective therapy monitoring. However, current nanoprobes often suffer from limited responsiveness and low signal intensity in complex physiological settings. Our research focuses on designing fluorescence, photoacoustic, chemiluminescent, and magnetic nanoprobes with enhanced signal output and tunable microenvironmental responsiveness, enabling the sensitive detection of key biomolecules, reactive species, and cellular events for early diagnosis and real-time monitoring of therapeutic responses.
Cell and microbial therapy
Harnessing living cells—including probiotics, bacteriophages, and immune cells—for therapeutic applications is a promising strategy to address complex diseases, but current approaches often face challenges in controlling cell function, overcoming physiological and pathological barriers, and achieving predictable outcomes. Our research focuses on integrating biomimetic nanocatalysts and robust nanoprobes with living cells to precisely modulate cellular behavior, enhance accumulation and functionality within pathological microenvironments, and ultimately enable effective treatment and accurate diagnosis of inflammatory diseases, cancer, and metabolic disorders.