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Smart insulin delivery. We design injectable, glucose-responsive hydrogels that release insulin only when blood sugar is high. Our materials use boronate chemistry, G-quartet assemblies and natural polymers, and we test them in diabetic animal models.

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Hydrogels for wound healing. We build antibacterial hydrogel dressings for infected and diabetic wounds, using plant-derived extracellular vesicles, carbon dots and silver nanoparticle composites in place of conventional antibiotics.

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Extracellular vesicles. We study extracellular vesicles from cancer cells and plants as disease biomarkers and as natural delivery vehicles, using spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and machine learning to read their molecular signatures.

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DNA nanotechnology. We use DNA origami and DNA-functionalized nanoparticles to build programmable nanostructures, including artificial extracellular matrices to study how cancer cells change and spread.

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Hydrogel sensors. We develop low-cost hydrogel impedance sensors that, combined with machine learning, identify sugars and detect adulteration in foods and beverages.

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Our projects are currently funded by the following agencies:

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