PROFESSOR LIANGFANG ZHANG

Department of NanoEngineering, UC San Diego

Office: 5308 Moores Cancer Center
Office: CalIT2 2703
Phone: 858-246-0999
Fax: 858-534-9553
e-mail: zhang@ucsd.edu

Education:
Postdoc, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chemical Engineering
PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chemical Engineering
MS & BE, Tsinghua University, Chemical Engineering

Zhang Research Group website

Research Interests:

We work on the design, synthesis, characterization and evaluation of lipid- and polymer-based nanostructured biomaterials. One specific interest lies in developing nanomaterials for healthcare and other medical applications, for example, drug delivery to improve or enable treatments of human diseases. In addition, we also seek to understand the fundamental sciences underlying the arenas of nanomedicine. Overall, our research covers a broad scope of multidisciplinary areas including chemical & molecular engineering, materials science, chemistry, nanotechnology, biotechnology and medicine.

Currently, we are interested in three specific topics: (1) developing multifunctional lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles as a robust drug delivery platform that combines the merits of liposomes and polymeric nanoparticles; (2) simultaneously delivering multiple drugs with different hydrophobicity to the same cancer cells for combination therapy; and (3) understanding how single nanoparticles with distinct characteristics interact with biomembranes, with special focus on understanding cellular endocytosis and endosome escape of therapeutic nanoparticles. For detailed description about these projects, you are welcome to visit our group webpage.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

NANOTECHNOLOGY & NANOMEDICINE:

Salvador-Morales, C.; Zhang, L.; Langer, R.; Farokhzad, O. C. "Immunocompatibility properties of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles with heterogeneous surface functional groups", Biomaterials 2009, 30, 2231-2240.
Chan, J.; Zhang, L.; Yuet, K.; Liao, G.; Rhee, J-W.; Langer, R.; Farokhzad, O. C. "PLGA-lecithin-PEG core-shell nanoparticles for controlled drug delivery", Biomaterials 2009, 30, 1627-1634.
Zhang, L.; Chan, J.; Gu, F.; Rhee, J-W.; Wang, A.; Radovic-Moreno, A.; Alexis, F.; Langer, R.; Farokhzad, O. C. "Self-assembled lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles: A robust drug delivery platform", ACS Nano 2008, 2, 1696-1702.
Zhang, L.; Gu, F.; Chan, J.; Wang, A.; Langer, R.; Farokhzad, O. C. "Nanoparticles in medicine: Therapeutic applications and developments", Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics 2008, 83, 761-769.
Gu, F.; Zhang, L.; Teply, B.; Mann, N.; Wang, A.; Radovic-Moreno, A.; Langer, R.; Farokhzad, O. C. "Precise engineering of targeted nanoparticles by using self-assembled biointegrated block copolymers", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2008, 105, 2586-2591.
Bagalkot, V.; Zhang, L.; Levy-Nissenbaum, E.; Jon, S.; Kantoff, P. W.; Langer, R.; Farokhzad, O. C. "Quantum dot-aptamer conjugates for synchronous cancer imaging, therapy and sensing of drug delivery based on bi-fluorescence resonance energy transfer", Nano Letters 2007, 7, 3065-3070.
Zhang, L.; Radovic-Moreno, A.; Alexis, F.; Gu, F.; Basto, P. A.; Bagalkot, V.; Jon, S.; Langer, R.; Farokhzad, O. C. "Co-delivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs from nanoparticle-aptamer bioconjugates", ChemMedChem 2007, 2, 1268-1271.
Zhang, L.; Granick, S. "How to stabilize phospholipid liposomes (using nanoparticles)", Nano Letters 2006, 6, 694-698.
Zhang, L.; Hong, L.; Yu, Y.; Bae, S. C.; Granick, S. "Nanoparticle-assisted surface immobilization of phospholipid liposomes", Journal of the American Chemical Society 2006, 128, 9026-9027.

BIOMEMBRANE SCIENCES:

Wang, B.; Zhang, L.; Bae, S. C.; Granick, S. "Nanoparticle-induced surface reconstruction of phospholipid membranes", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2008, 105, 18171-18175.
Zhang, L.; Granick, S. "Inter-leaflet diffusion coupling when polymer adsorbs onto one sole leaflet of a supported phospholipid bilayer", Macromolecules 2007, 40, 1366-1368.
Zhang, L.; Spurlin, T. A.; Gewirth, A. A.; Granick, S. "Electrostatic stitching in gel-phase supported phospholipid bilayers", Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2006, 110, 33-35.
Anthony, S.; Zhang, L.; Granick, S. "Methods to track single-molecule trajectories", Langmuir 2006, 22, 5266-5272.
Zhang, L.; Granick, S. "Slaved diffusion in phospholipid bilayers", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2005, 102, 9118-9121.