Biocompatible and biodegradable nanomaterials for targeted biomedical imaging

Biomedical imaging is a very important tool in cell biology and disease diagnosis. It not only allows investigating the basic biological processes at cellular level but also facilitating early diagnosis and understanding the pathological processes. Furthermore, it is also possible to achieve precision imaging-guided therapy. Nanomaterials and nanotechnology have played a significant role in this field as many advantages can be provided such as strong signal, excellent contrast, long circulation time, high stability, and the possibility of integration of multiple materials and probes for all-in-one applications.

The project to be carried out in the Institute for Bioengineering at the University of Edinburgh is going to be focused on designing novel types of biocompatible and biodegradable nanomaterials for biomedical imaging. The research will be predominantly on synthesising nanomaterials followed by various surface modification. A wide range of characterisation tools will be employed for characterisation and application test of the nanostructures.

To undertake this research, we are seeking a highly motivated candidate with established hands-on experience in nanomaterials synthesis and cell biology.

Our track record in this work:
1. X Chen, WJ Zhang, Diamond nanostructures for drug delivery, bioimaging, and biosensing, Chemical Society Reviews, 46, 734-760, 2017.
2. RR Xu, LM Huang, X Chen, WJ Wei, XH Zhang, XJ Zhang, Real-time imaging and tracking of ultrastable organic dye nanoparticles in living cells, Biomaterials, 93, 38-47, 2016.
3. MH Lan, JF Zhang, PF Wang, X Chen, CS Lee, WJ Zhang, Highly stable organic fluorescence nanorods for living cell imaging, Nano Research, 8(7), 2380-2389, 2015.
4. J Yu, XJ Zhang, XJ Hao, XH Zhang, MJ Zhou, CS Lee, X Chen, Near-infrared fluorescence imaging using organic dye nanoparticles, Biomaterials, 35, 3356-3364, 2014.