Advanced micro- and nanostructures for drug delivery and controlled release

Abstract

Engineered micro and nanomaterials have attracted significant research interest during the past decades for various applications. Nature provides us with a wide range of sophisticated nanomachines that serve as a source of building blocks for various functional materials. For example, diatoms and marine sponges use self-assembled biomolecules (proteins or peptides) as templates to create hierarchical organic-inorganic architectures with precisely controlled structure, size, orientation and composition, which has been considered as a paradigm for biomolecule-controlled self-assembly of hierarchical materials. Mimicking these functions of biomolecules provide the opportunity to develop various functional materials for different applications. My lab has been focusing on the development of advanced micro and nanostructures based on bioinspired engineering and microfluidic technology. Patented technologies have been developed for making tailorable complex emulsions and core-shell nanocapsules for controlled release and drug delivery. In this talk, I will introduce how we design and fabricate different kinds of micro and nanomaterials based on emulsion templating, how we apply them for different applications, and how their physical properties affect their biological functions.

Biography

Associate Professor Chun-Xia Zhao is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and Group Leader at Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at The University of Queensland, Australia. She leads a research team with a focus on the development of micro and nanostructures based on bio-inspired engineering and microfluidics for controlled release and drug delivery. She has been focusing on innovative research as evidenced by her four patents. A/Prof Zhao’s research has attracted more than $3.5 M in research funding since 2011, including four Australian Research Council projects as the lead investigator, two national prestigious fellowship, eight UQ grants, as well as industry funding. She has been recognised for scientific excellence with a 2016 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award. She has built extensive collaborations with scientists at top universities such as Harvard University, Cornell University, etc. She was invited to visit Harvard University as a Fellow of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. She also serves as the Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board member for several journals.