Research fields highlights (Years 2003 - 2022)
- Molecular and cellular biology (signaling pathways)
- Mesenchymal and induced pluripotent stem cells
- Small laboratory vertebrate animal models (tumor & brain injury models)
- Cancer immunology (development of immune therapeutics)
- Cancer biology (tumorigenic pathways & drug discovery)
- Drug formulation and delivery systems (pharmaceutics, nanoparticles, liposomes, emulsions, ...etc.)
- Neuroscience (brain tumors, injuries, & pathologies)
- Drug discovery and Medicinal chemistry
- Medical and biological imaging (Confocal microscopy, Transmission electron microscopy, Fluorescence microscopy, MRI)
- Microbiology (Pharmaceutical products and clean rooms)
- Translational medicine (Theranostic applications)
Research fields overview
I was appointed as a tenured Assistant Professor researcher and Principle Investigator at the Neuroscience Research Center, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University since 2017. I established a research group and constructed a laboratory from scratch for my research in the fields of development of therapeutic stem cells, and detection of cancer stem cells by diagnostic tools such as the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). My research group developed and characterized optimum labeling strategies for therapeutic mesenchymal stem cells for tracing them in vivo and understanding their behavior using different imaging applications such as fluorescence and MRI. Such labeled mesenchymal stem cells are tested in neural diseases animal models. Moreover, we developed novel targeted theranostic (therapeutic + diagnostic) nanoparticles probes for the detection of certain types of cancer cells (like cancer stem cells) based on the expression of surface markers such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), and delivery of drugs or therapeutic agents.
Also, I initiated induced pluripotent stem cells research in my laboratory for various applications such as generating different types of differentiated neural cells for various neurodegenerative diseases models.
Furthermore, my research group developed novel anticancer drugs and/or therapies, investigated their mechanisms of action, and facilitated their transition to translational medicine and clinical practice. I achieved my research goals using two major research approaches:
Also, I have extensive experience in microbiology of pharmaceuticals & sterile parenteral products, microbial susceptibility & resistance, medical microbiology and clinical diagnostic microbiology.
My research experience & experimental techniques include, but not limited to: “tumor animal models, stereotaxic surgeries of small laboratory animals, Immunohistochemical procedures, cell culture techniques, Western blotting, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), reporter gene assays, operation of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Confocal microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, reprogramming fibroblasts into pluripotent stem cells, differentiating stem cells into different cell types, cell viability assays, cell permeability assays, migration and invasion assays, pharmaceutics, drug formulation & delivery systems, microfluidics, synthesis of liposomes and magnetic nanoparticles, molecular docking, chemical synthesis of small molecules, synthesis and modification of peptides, analysis of compounds by HPLC, various spectroscopy procedures, elemental analyses, basic microscopy, microbiological cultures, microbial sensitivity assays, and clinical and diagnostic microbiological assays".
Also, I initiated induced pluripotent stem cells research in my laboratory for various applications such as generating different types of differentiated neural cells for various neurodegenerative diseases models.
Furthermore, my research group developed novel anticancer drugs and/or therapies, investigated their mechanisms of action, and facilitated their transition to translational medicine and clinical practice. I achieved my research goals using two major research approaches:
- First, I screen and select the potential novel compounds developed in our laboratory and investigate their biological activities, molecular mechanisms and cellular signaling pathways to validate and understand their therapeutic activities.
- Second, I develop drug delivery platforms for targeted therapy and diagnosis of cancer. Such platforms can be used to deliver clinical drugs or our novel compounds to the tumor sites. Interestingly, I developed a theranostic formulation of nanoparticles with smart targeted drug-release properties and magnetic features that could be detected by the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our in vivo studies showed that the nanoparticle formulation is suitable to diagnose tumors and monitor the treatment response by the non-invasive MRI.
Also, I have extensive experience in microbiology of pharmaceuticals & sterile parenteral products, microbial susceptibility & resistance, medical microbiology and clinical diagnostic microbiology.
My research experience & experimental techniques include, but not limited to: “tumor animal models, stereotaxic surgeries of small laboratory animals, Immunohistochemical procedures, cell culture techniques, Western blotting, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), reporter gene assays, operation of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Confocal microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, reprogramming fibroblasts into pluripotent stem cells, differentiating stem cells into different cell types, cell viability assays, cell permeability assays, migration and invasion assays, pharmaceutics, drug formulation & delivery systems, microfluidics, synthesis of liposomes and magnetic nanoparticles, molecular docking, chemical synthesis of small molecules, synthesis and modification of peptides, analysis of compounds by HPLC, various spectroscopy procedures, elemental analyses, basic microscopy, microbiological cultures, microbial sensitivity assays, and clinical and diagnostic microbiological assays".
Video abstract of: "Efficient Labeling Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells For High Sensitivity Long-Term MRI Monitoring In Live Mice Brains". Please click Here to read the full article.