Yiran Zheng

Yiran Zheng, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Pharmaceutics, Biopharmaceuticals

Email: yrzheng@suda.edu.cn

Biography

Education

2010 - 2015: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), Ph.D.

2006 - 2009: Johns Hopkins University (USA), B.S.

Work experience

2019 - current: Professor, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University

2017 - 2019: Research Scientist, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), A*STAR, Singapore

2015 - 2017: Postdoctoral fellow, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), A*STAR, Singapore

Research Interests

1. CAR-T therapy, Cancer vaccine, Autoimmune diseases, Biomaterials, Smart drug delivery system

2. Interdisplinary research in immuno-engineering by leveraging on immunology, materials science and biotechnology to create new Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) therapies and cancer vaccines. Technologies have been patented in multiple countries including China, USA, Europe, Japan, and enabled an underoging phase I clinical trial for solid tumor in USA

Select Publications

1. X. Chen, M. Gao, S. An, L. Zhao, W. Han, W. Wan, J. Chen, S. Ma, W. Cai, Y. Cao, D. Ding, Y. Y. Yang, L. Cheng*,Y. Zheng*. Enhancing adoptive T cell therapy for solid tumor with cell-surface anchored immune checkpoint Inhibitor nanogels.Nanomedicine: NBM2022,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nano.2022.102591.

2. Y. Zheng*, Z. Zhong*. Roadmap to next-generation cancer vaccines.Journal of Controlled Release2022,347, 308-313, doi:10.1016/j.conrel.2022.05.005. (Cover)

3. M. He, T. Yang, Y. Wang, M. Wang, X. Chen, D. Ding*,Y. Zheng*, H. Chen*. Immune checkpoint inhibitor‐based strategies for synergistic cancer therapy.Advanced Healthcare Materials2021, 10(9): 2002104.

4. Y. Zheng*, J. Kng, C. Yang, J. L. Hedrick, Y. Y. Yang*. Cationic polymer synergizing with chemotherapeutics and re-purposing antibiotics against cancer cells.Biomaterials Science2021, 9, 2174-2182.

5. X. Wang^#,Y. Zheng^#, C. Bao, G. Zhong, S. Liu, N. Wiradharma, W. Fan, Y. Y. Yang*, X. Wang*, Y. Huang*. Branched helical peptides enhanced antitumor efficacy and selectivity.Biomaterials Science2020, 8, 6387-6394.

6. L. Tang^*#,Y. Zheng^#, M. Melo, L. Mabardi, A. P. Castano, Y.Q. Xie, N. Li, S. B. Kudchodkar, H. C. Wong, E. K. Jeng, M. V. Maus, and D. Irvine^*. Enhancing T-cell therapy through TCR signaling-responsive nanoparticle drug delivery.Nature Biotechnology2018,36 (8), 707. (Cover)Reported as “A backpack revs up T-cell activity”by Shum, Heslop

7. Y. Zheng, L. Tang, L. Mabardi, S. Kumari and D. Irvine*. Enhancing adoptive cell therapy of cancer through targeted delivery of small-molecule immunomodulators to internalizing or non-internalizing receptors.ACS Nano2017, 11(3):3089-3100.

8. H. Liu, K. Moynihan,Y. Zheng, G. Szeto, A. Li, B. Huang, D. Egeren, C. Park, D.Irvine*.Structure-based programming of lymph-node targeting in molecular vaccines.Nature2014, 507(7493): 519–522.

9. Y. Zheng, M. T. Stephan, S. A. Gai, W. Abraham, A. Shearer, and D. J. Irvine. In vivo Targeting of adoptively transferred T-cells with antibody- and cytokine-conjugated liposomes.Journal of Controlled Release2013,172(2):426-35.

Select Patents

1. Y. Zheng, X. Chen. Engineered immune cells, nanogels and their applications. CN202111677244.X, licensed.

2. J. J. Ying, Y. Zheng, Y. F. Lee. Immune response profiling of tumor-derived exosomes for cancer diagnosis. SG11202004500Y, CN111433608, US20210223251.

3. D. J. Irvine, Y. Zheng, L. Tang. Cell surface coupling of nanoparticles. US11034752B2 (granted 2021), JP6887685B2 (granted 2021), AU2016305087B2 (granted 2022), EP3334417A4, CA2995212A1, CN108990413A, licensed.

4. D. J. Irvine, Y. Zheng, Y. Zhang, B. Kwong. In vivo targeting of cells with ligand-conjugated particles. EP3010528B1 (granted 2019), US20160375149A1, CA2953287A1, licensed.