Linxian Li
Dr. Linxian Li is a biomedical engineer with interdisciplinary expertise in organic chemistry, molecular biology, materials science, and bioengineering. He was Assistant Professor at Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine between 2017 and 2023.
Biographical
Dr. Linxian Li is a biomedical engineer with interdisciplinary expertise in organic chemistry, molecular biology, materials science, and bioengineering. After obtaining his PhD degree at Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg in Germany, he pursued postdoctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Committed to translate new materials for medical use, he focuses on developing biomaterials to deliver RNA therapeutics and engineering biointerfaces to control cell behavior. His work has resulted in over 20 publications including papers, patents and patent applications. These patents have been licensed to chemical and biotechnology companies, and several products that have been commercialized.
Research
In molecular and cellular therapies, it is crucial that macromolecular drugs and stem cells are delivered into proper locations in vivo in order to execute their functions. However, the rational design of delivery systems is often laborious and inefficient, since the design criteria are difficult to define. Sitting at the interface of materials science and biotechnology, my research aims to develop novel delivery systems for molecular and cellular therapies. To accelerate this process, I have developed combinatorial methods that are capable of parallel synthesizing a large number of biomaterials, and fabricated microarrays as high-throughput screening tools to efficiently identify candidates. These efforts have led to an advanced system with great potential in gene therapy, drug testing, discovery, and tissue engineering applications. I continue to focus my efforts on elucidating the mechanism of molecular and cellular therapies, and translating new biomaterials for medical use.
Awards
In 2017, Dr. Li was among the first group of Chinese young researchers to receive the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Awards. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding innovators under the age of 35 around the globe whose superb technical work promises to shape the coming decades. He was listed as a pioneer for exploring the therapeutic potentials of human messenger RNA (mRNA) and for providing innovative tools to accelerate the development of novel biomaterials for global healthcare challenges.
Group Members
Previous lab members
Bin Zheng | Postdoctoral Researcher
Fei Li | Postdoctoral Researcher
Jinsong Han | Postdoctoral Researcher
Gaofeng Zha | Postdoctoral Researcher
Jiabing Ran | Postdoctoral Researcher
Iris Long | Research Assistant
Lu Wang | Postdoctoral Researcher
Balakrishna Moku | Postdoctoral Researcher
Yike Yang | Postdoctoral Researcher
Hui Huang | Postdoctoral Researcher
Kyler Chow | Research Assistant
Horace Lee | Research Officer
Mabel Fung | Research Assistant
Callum Stewart | Postdoctoral Researcher
Fengge Zhu | Postdoctoral Researcher
Selected Publications
Guo, J., Wang, D., Sun, Q., Li, L., Zhao, H., Wang, D., Cui, J., Chen, L., & Deng, X. (2019). Omni‐Liquid Droplet Manipulation Platform. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 1900653. https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201900653
Li, F., Han, J., Cao, T., Lam, W., Fan, B., Tang, W., Chen, S., Fok, K. L., & Li, L. (2019). Design of self-assembly dipeptide hydrogels and machine learning via their chemical features. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(23), 11259–11264. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1903376116
Miao, L., Li, L., Huang, Y., Delcassian, D., Chahal, J., Han, J., Shi, Y., Sadtler, K., Gao, W., Lin, J., Doloff, J. C., Langer, R., & Anderson, D. G. (2019). Delivery of mRNA vaccines with heterocyclic lipids increases anti-tumor efficacy by STING-mediated immune cell activation. Nature Biotechnology, 37(10), 1174–1185. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-019-0247-3
Yang, C., He, G., Zhang, A., Wu, Q., Zhou, L., Hang, T., Liu, D., Xiao, S., Chen, H.-J., Liu, F., Li, L., Wang, J., & Xie, X. (2019). Injectable Slippery Lubricant-Coated Spiky Microparticles with Persistent and Exceptional Biofouling-Resistance. ACS Central Science, 5(2), 250–258. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.8b00605
Yang, J., Wang, D., Liu, H., Li, L., Chen, L., Jiang, H.-R., & Deng, X. (2019). An electric-field-dependent drop selector. Lab on a Chip, 19(7), 1296–1304. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8LC01403E
Du, X., Li, J., Welle, A., Li, L., Feng, W., & Levkin, P. A. (2015). Reversible and Rewritable Surface Functionalization and Patterning via Photodynamic Disulfide Exchange. Advanced Materials, 27(34), 4997–5001. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201501177
Photo: Patrick ChanNew method provides vehicles for RNA vaccines
Linxian Li and researchers at the MIT, USA, have developed a new way of producing nanoparticles that can function as carriers in so-called mRNA vaccines. They have identified a new class of carrier molecules that inhibit tumour growth and prolong survival in mouse models of cancer with the method described in their publication in Nature Biotechnology.
Photo: Public DomainKI researchers talked about mRNA vaccine
mRNA technology is now being used in developing vaccine against coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Linxian Li has worked on the development of a delivery system for mRNA molecules into our cells for ten years, hoping that producing better lipid nanoparticles will bring less side effects and longer storage time in vaccine, and even gene therapy. Let’s learn more about the mRNA technology.
Photo: Patrick ChanLinxian Li has a new publication in Nature Biotechnology
In collaboration, Linxian Li and his team have developed a new method to provide vehicles for RNA vaccines. Using this method, the researchers have identified a new class of carrier molecules that inhibit tumour growth and prolong survival in mouse models of cancer.