Contributors to the Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators 2025 collection
Abstract
Our 2025 Emerging Investigators themed collection gathers some of the best research being conducted by scientists in the early stages of their independent career. Each contributor was recommended as carrying out work with the potential to influence future directions in materials chemistry. Congratulations to all the researchers featured, we hope you enjoy reading this collection.
Dr Behnam Akhavan, an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Fellow and a senior lecturer of biomedical engineering at the University of Newcastle, Australia, heads the Plasma Bio-engineering Laboratory at the School of Engineering and the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI). Since obtaining his PhD in advanced manufacturing from the University of South Australia in 2015, he has held postdoctoral and academic positions at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and Fraunhofer Institute of Microtechnology in Germany, and the University of Sydney. Akhavan's pioneering work in plasma surface bioengineering, published in over 80 journal articles, has led to innovative applications in healthcare and beyond. He is recognised by Engineers Australia as one of the nation's Most Innovative Engineers.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB01515K.
Dr Meiqi Chang received her PhD in chemistry from Jilin University in 2019. She is now an associate researcher at Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Her current research interests include the design and preparation of multifunctional nanomaterials and nanozymes for regulation of cell pyroptosis.
Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01210D.
Dr Liang Chen received his PhD at Donghua University and then started as a postdoctoral fellow at Fudan University in 2018. He is currently an associate professor at Shanghai University. His research interests are focused on the design and synthesis of functional porous biomaterials for biomedical applications, including disease theranostics, regenerative medicine, and nano–bio interactions.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00105F.
Dr Jian Cheng received his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Jinming Hu. He subsequently completed postdoctoral training with Prof. Chen Zhu and Prof. Jinming Hu at the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China. He is currently an associate researcher at the School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China. His research primarily focuses on gaseous signalling molecule-based functional materials.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01166C.
Dr Haijun Cui is currently an associate professor at the College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University. He received his PhD in 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Shutao Wang from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (TIPCCAS). From 2018 to 2021, he conducted postdoctoral research at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany (supervisor: Prof. Pavel A. Levkin). His research interests are the development of biomimetic biomaterials and the construction of cell spheroid-based cancer models.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00744E.
Dr Changyong Gao obtained his PhD in chemical engineering and technology from Harbin Institute of Technology in 2017. He worked as an assistant professor at the School of Mechatronics and Engineering at the Harbin Institute of Technology, from 2017 to 2021. He is now an associate professor at Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. His research interests include synthetic micro- and nanomotors, and stimuli-responsive materials for biomedical applications.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00162E.
Dr Tayler Hebner is an assistant professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University where she leads an interdisciplinary research group that integrates material design, cell biology, synthetic chemistry, and polymer mechanics for the design of polymers with complex responsive properties for use in applications such as regenerative tissue engineering and soft robotics. She earned a BS in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She earned a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and trained as a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Oregon.
Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01237F.
Dr Mingjun Li received her PhD from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, and is currently an associate professor at the School of Health Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology. Her research primarily focuses on the design and development of advanced biomaterials for soft and hard tissue repair, with particular emphasis on interfacial tissue integration and functional regeneration.
Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00211G.
Dr Kunneng Liang is an associate professor and doctoral supervisor at the West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University. He holds a doctoral degree from Sichuan University and completed joint doctoral training at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He serves as a Young Science and Technology Leading Talent at Sichuan University and holds committee positions in the Sichuan Provincial Stomatological Association. His research focuses on the interdisciplinary field of biomaterials and oral medicine, particularly anti-caries materials, oral and maxillofacial tissue repair materials, and photo-intelligent antibacterial materials. He has published over 50 SCI papers as the first or corresponding author in internationally renowned journals, including recent publications in Adv. Mater., ACS Nano, Adv. Funct. Mater., Adv. Sci., and Biomaterials. His achievements include receiving the 2017 IADR China Division Outstanding Young Scholar Award and the 2019 “Most Promising Award” from the Chinese Stomatological Association Young Scientists Forum.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01477H.
Dr Xinyue Liu is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at Michigan State University. She received her PhD in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and BS degree in polymer materials and engineering from Sichuan University. Her research program focuses on designing hydrogel-based biomaterials at the interface of molecular chemistry, mechanics, optics, and living systems.
Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01056J.
Dr Xun Liu obtained his PhD in the College of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Zhejiang University in 2017 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University from 2018 to 2021. He is now an associate professor in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. His research interests focus on the development of polymeric nanocarriers and pro-protein engineering strategies for cytosolic delivery of proteins/peptides.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB02009J.
Dr Bing Lu obtained his BS degree from Soochow University in 2012 and received his PhD from Soochow University in 2017. From 2017–2019, he joined Prof. Xiaowei Zhan's group as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2020, he joined the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in Nantong University full time. Currently, he is an associate professor in the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nantong University. His research interests are in the design and synthesis of functional organic small molecules and their application in biomedicine.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00937E.
Dr Kevin Neumann holds a position as an assistant professor at Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He joined the group of Prof. Mark Bradley at the University of Edinburgh for his PhD studies, focusing on synthetic approaches to drug activation within complex biological environments using polymeric platforms. From 2018 to 2021, Kevin worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Jeffrey Bode at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where he focused on developing new methodologies for peptide synthesis. Since 2021, Kevin has been an assistant professor in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, where he leads an interdisciplinary research group at the interface of organic and polymer chemistry. His work focuses on the development of next-generation drug delivery systems and the precision synthesis of therapeutically active biomolecules including protein–polymer conjugates.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01111F.
Dr Meng Qin received her PhD from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS) in 2016 under the supervision of Prof. Yanlin Song. Afterwards, she worked as a research associate at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UCLA. She is currently an associate professor at the College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University. Her current research is focused on biomedical polymers.
Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB02673J.
Dr Min Qiu is a principal investigator at the Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, and a member of the mRNA Innovation and Translation Center. He earned his doctoral degree from Soochow University under the supervision of Prof. Zhiyuan Zhong and Prof. Chao Deng and subsequently completed his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Prof. Qiaobing Xu in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University. In 2021, Qiu joined the Human Phenome Institute, where he leads an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to the development of tissue- and cell-targeted lipid nanoparticles for applications in vaccines, gene editing, and immuno- and cell-based therapies.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00575B.
Dr Zhiqiang Shen received his PhD in science from the School of Chemistry and Materials Science at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2022. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at USTC and is currently an associate research fellow at the Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research, USTC. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of biomedical polymers and gas-delivery polymeric systems for biomedical applications.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01132A.
Dr Dongdong Wang is currently a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China. He earned his BSc in materials chemistry from Lanzhou University in 2013 and completed his PhD in materials physics and chemistry under the guidance of Prof. Qianwang Chen at the University of Science and Technology of China in 2018. Following his PhD, he conducted postdoctoral research with Prof. Yanli Zhao at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Prof. Wang's research is currently centered on the development of functional nanomaterials for use in diagnostics and therapeutics.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB01237B.
Dr Donghui Wang received his BS degree in materials science and engineering from Sichuan University in 2012, and his PhD in materials science from the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2017. He is now a professor at Hebei University of Technology. His research interest is focused on the surface modification of biomedical pure titanium, nitinol and magnesium alloys, and the influence of surface physical and chemical properties on cellular behaviors.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB02778G.
Dr Qianbin Wang is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He earned his PhD in material physics and chemistry under the guidance of Prof. Lei Jiang at Beihang University in 2015. Following a one-year postdoctoral position at New York University, he joined Prof. Zhigang He's Lab at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital as a postdoctoral fellow. From 2021 to 2023, he worked at the Biomedical Engineering Department at UMass Amherst as a research assistant professor. Wang's research primarily focuses on developing biomechanical platforms to investigate the molecular and genetic mechanisms involved in neural degeneration and regeneration.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB00745J.
Dr Shenqiang Wang is a professor at the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University. He received his doctoral degree from Northwestern Polytechnical University under the supervision of Prof. Qiuyu Zhang, followed by postdoctoral training in Prof. Zhen Gu's laboratory at the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University. In 2023, Wang joined Soochow University, where he leads an interdisciplinary research team focused on the development of controlled drug delivery systems for wound healing and immunotherapy.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01436K.
Dr Yuning Wang received her PhD in analytical chemistry at Fudan University in 2021 under the supervision of Prof. Baohong Liu. Currently, she is an assistant professor at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research interests focus on the development of nanoplatforms for biomolecule detection.
Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00692A.
Dr Jing Xie obtained her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Jilin University in China with Prof. Bai Yang and Prof. Junhu Zhang to conduct research on intelligent polymers, then she obtained her doctorate degree from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany, supervised by Prof. Hans-Juergen Butt and Dr Kaloian Koynov, conducting research on diffusion in confined environments using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. In July 2016, she joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University and was promoted to associate professor in 2020. Her work is mainly research on medical polymer materials, focusing on the preparation of intelligent responsive polymer materials for the treatment of bone diseases.
Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00704F.
Dr Erhu Xiong received his doctoral degree in chemistry from Hunan University in 2018. He then worked at the School of Life Sciences of South China Normal University in 2019. In 2022, he served as a professor at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Hunan Normal University. The main research directions include CRISPR-based molecular diagnostics, DNA nanotechnology, and nanodrug delivery and disease therapy.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB02856B.
Dr Chun Xu obtained his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Wuhan University (China) in 2010 and 2012, respectively. He received his PhD in chemistry and bioengineering from the University of Queensland (Australia) under the supervision of Prof. Chengzhong Yu. Following his PhD, he undertook postdoctoral training at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Stanford University. He is currently a senior lecturer and Sydney Horizon Fellow at the University of Sydney, Australia. Before that, he was a senior lecturer and group leader at the University of Queensland. His research focuses on the synthesis of novel nanomaterials and their biomedical applications.
His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB01124D.
Dr Qi Yu obtained her PhD from Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications in 2017 and then started as a postdoctoral fellow at Singapore University of Technology and Design. She is currently an associate professor at the Hubei University of Technology. Her research interests focus on the development of functional luminescent nanoplatforms for bioimaging and cancer therapy.
Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01134E.
Dr Yue Zhang is an assistant professor at Westlake University (China). She earned her PhD from the University of California San Diego, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research interests are positioned at the intersection of microbiology and nanomedicine. She is dedicated to uncovering how pathogenic microbes subvert immune surveillance and applying these natural strategies to guide material design for disease treatment. She is the co-chair of the Communication Committee of Chinese Association for Biomaterials and serves as the junior editor for Bioactive Materials and Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB00742E.
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