Invited Speakers

Zhen Gu

Professor, Department of Bioengineering

Director, NIH Biotechnology Training Program

Group Website:

http://imedicationlab.net

Dr. Zhen Gu is a Full Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Director of the NIH Biotechnology Training in Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Gu received his B.S. degree in Chemistry and M.S. degree in Polymer Chemistry and Physics from Nanjing University. In 2010, he obtained Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. He was a Postdoctoral Associate working with Dr. Robert Langer at MIT and Harvard Medical School during 2010 to 2012. Before he moved to UCLA in 2018, he had been appointed as a Jackson Family Distinguished Professor in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Dr. Gu’s group studies controlled drug delivery, biomaterials and cell therapy. He has published over 190 research papers and applied over 80 patents. The highlights of his inventions include glucose-responsive “smart insulin patch” and “platelets-delivered immunotherapy”. He is a co-founder of five start-up companies, including Zenomics and ZenCapsule. Dr. Gu serves as an Associate Editor for Science Advances and Nano Research. He was also an Inaugural Chair of the Bioinspired and Biomimetic Delivery (BBD) Focus Group in the Controlled Release Society (CRS). He is the recipient of the Felix Franks Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2019), Small Young Innovator Award (2019), Biomaterials Science Lectureship Award (2018), Young Investigator Award of CRS (2017), Sloan Research Fellowship (2016) and Pathway Award of the American Diabetes Association (ADA, 2015). MIT Technology Review listed him in 2015 as one of the top innovators under the age of 35 (TR35). He was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2019.

Representative Publications

[1]      Qian Chen, Chao Wang, Xudong Zhang, Guojun Chen, Quanyin Hu, Hongjun Li, Jinqiang Wang, Di Wen, Yuqi Zhang, Guang Yang, Chen Jiang, Gianpietro Dotti, Jun Wang, Zhen Gu*, "In situ Sprayed Bioresponsive Immunotherapeutic Gel for Post-Surgical Cancer Treatment", Nature Nanotechnology, 14(89), 2019.

[2]      Chao Wang+, Jinqiang Wang+, Xudong Zhang, Shuangjiang Yu, Di Wen, Quanyin Hu, Yanqi Ye, Hunter Bomba, Xiuli Hu, Zhuang Liu, Gianpietro Dotti, Zhen Gu*, "In Situ-Formed Reactive Oxygen Species-Responsive Scaffold for Cancer Immunotherapy", Science Translational Medicine, 429(eaan3682), 2018.

[3]      Zhaowei Chen, Jinqiang Wang, Wujin Sun, Edikan Archibong, Anna R. Kahkoska, Xudong Zhang, Frances S. Ligler, John B. Buse, Zhen Gu*, "Synthetic β-cells for Fusion-Mediated Dynamic Insulin Secretion", Nature Chemical Biology, 14(86), 2018.

[4]      Quanyin Hu, Wujin Sun, Jinqiang Wang, Huitong Ruan, Yanqi Ye, Chao Wang, Weiyue Lu, Ke Cheng, Gianpietro Dotti, Joshua F. Zeidner, Jun Wang, Zhen Gu*, "Conjugation of Haematopoietic Stem Cells and Platelets Decorated with Anti-PD-1 Antibodies Augments Anti-Leukemia Efficacy", Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2(831), 2018.

[5]      Chao Wang, Wujin Sun, Yanqi Ye, Hunter Bomba, Zhen Gu*, "n situ Activation of Platelets with Checkpoint Inhibitors for Post-Surgical Cancer Immunotherapy", Nature Biomedical Engineering, 1(0017), 2017.

[6]      Jicheng Yu, Yuqi Zhang, Yanqi Ye, Rocco DiSanto, Davis Ranson, Frances Ligler, John Buse, Zhen Gu*, "Microneedle-Array Patches Loaded with Hypoxia-Sensitive Vesicles Provide Fast Glucose-Responsive Insulin Delivery", PNAS, 112(8260), 2015.