After a decade's effort, Dr. Jie Zheng, assistant professor of chemistry, has developed three synthetic strategies to create luminescent metal nanoparticles with tunable size and surface chemistries.
To minimize nanotoxicity, his team has developed a class of luminescent metal nanoparticles that can be cleared from the body through urinary system but still serve as a new generation of contrast agents for early disease diagnosis.
Under the guidance of Dr. Zheng, Xuhui “Louis” Ning, a senior majoring in biochemistry, addressed the problem of tumor-targeting agents that can be toxic if they accumulate in the liver and spleen. Ning won top honors for his project in the emerging field of bionanotechnology. read more