Nanomedicine

One primary focus of our research involves the design and application of bioinspired nanocarriers such as multimodal micelles for theranostic engineering. Through targeting elements, our platforms can be tailored to directly bind to sites of diseased tissue and to limit off-target side effects in healthy tissues. For imaging, our goal is to incorporate components within nanoparticles that are relevant for clinical modalities such as MR and PET imaging, with the hope of utilizing this technology for personalized medicine. For therapeutic applications, we engineer micelles with combination therapy and gene therapy, and design nanotherapeutics for specific routes of administration that considers patient compliance.

Another focus in our lab is to harness and scale up the therapeutic and targeting ability of endogenous nanoparticles such as extracellular vesicles. In addition to understanding their fundamental nanomaterial properties, we engineer their surface and cargo to design nanomedicines tailored for specific diseases.

Regenerative Medicine

We are also interested in synthesizing biomimetic scaffolds for regenerative engineering. By further mimicking tissue and organ hierarchical structures, we aim to enhance the in vivo response. One aspect of this research is focused on tailoring our materials to form in situ in order to complement the growing number of minimally-invasive procedures .