My research interests are in drug/gene delivery, nanobiotechnology, and cellular/tissue engineering

Drug/Gene Delivery

The potential of ultrasonic standing wave fields to facilitate viral transduction rate has been demonstrated. Under acoustic exposure, suspended cells move to the pressure nodal planes first and form cell clusters. Then, viruses circulated between nodal planes use the pre-formed cell clusters as the nucleating sites to attach on. As a result, this system enhances gene delivery efficiency. The same apparatus were used to increase the gene delivery efficiency of nonviral vectors such as polyethyleneimine. Further modification of acoustic setup and optimization of operating parameters are undergoing to augment both viral and nonviral gene delivery efficiency.

NanoBiotechnology

Unlike bacteria-based infection which can be controlled by antibiotics, viruses fully relying on host cells for their replication are not so readily dealt with. The emergence and spread of viral diseases worldwide, particularly HIV/AIDS, outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome virus, and the scares of pandemic avian influenza virus seriously raise the concern that any virus strain has the potential evolving into a life-threatening pathogen. In this regard, developing fast and efficient screening technology has its merits of identifying potential drugs against viral diseases that still lack of effective prevention or treatment. Quantum dot (QD), an emerging probe for biological imaging and medical diagnostics, has been employed in my lab to form complexes with virus and used as fluorescent imaging probes for exploring potential antiviral therapeutics. Since preservation of viral infectivity after tagging virus with QDs is of utmost importance, various strategies are currently investigated to assure constructed QD-virus imaging modality is capable of providing meaningful information. In addition, various multifunctional bionanohybrids are fabricated for the field of cell therapy and tissue engineering.

Selected Recent Publications