AIBN Seminar Series: Polymeric/inorganic nanohybrids: attractive materials as molecular imaging probes

We are pleased to present Dr Ruirui Qiao, AIBN's newest Group Leader to speak about the fabrication strategies of polymer and inorganic nanoparticles.

Date: Thursday, 16 September

Time: 12 - 1pm

Venue: Online Via Zoom

Click here to access the free seminar.

Abstract

Hybrid nanomaterials, with an inorganic core and organic surface coating, has shown great potential in a number of fields such as health, environment, microfluidics, as well as imaging and targeting delivery. Instead of utilising solely functions from either metal-based inorganic materials (e.g. Iron oxides, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), Au nanoparticles, quantum dots, liquid metal nanoparticles (LMNPs), etc.) or organic polymers with unique properties (e.g. biocompatibility, chemical or biochemical reactivity, optical or electrical characteristics), hybrid functional materials involve a synergic combination of two chemical worlds to generate new materials with improved performance or even novel properties. In bioapplications such as imaging or targeting delivery, the advantages of hybrid nanoparticle-based imaging agents include tailorable size and surface, high loading capacity, controllable or environmental responsive signal activation, reduced side effect and improved biocompatibility.

The seminar will cover the design and fabrication of different types of functional polymeric/inorganic nanohybrids as imaging probes for diagnosis of diseases.

3 things people will learn by coming to this seminar:
- The fabrication strategies of polymer and inorganic nanoparticles
- The functionalisation with biomolecules for targeting
- The applications and performance of nanohybrids as imaging probes

Presenter: Dr Ruirui Qiao, Group leader and NHMRC Emerging Leadership fellow at Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland 

Dr. Ruirui Qiao is a Group leader and NHMRC Emerging Leadership fellow at Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland. She received her BSc (2005) and MSc (2007) in pharmaceutical science in Peking University in China. From 2007 to 2016, she worked as a research assistant and associate in Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science (CAS). In 2016, she was promoted to be an associated Professor in Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2017, she joined Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) as a research fellow within ARC Centre of Bio-Nano Science (CBNS) under the leadership and mentorship of Professor Tom Davis. In 2019, she relocated to AIBN as the co-project leader of CBNS. Her research focuses on the development of polymeric/inorganic nanohybrids and assemblies for disease diagnosis and therapy.