Despite the difficulties brought about by COVID-19 around the world, aspiring young scientists dedicated themselves to building a better future for mankind. The 2021 list of the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific was released recently, which included two ZJU faculty members, Dr. LEE Hyeon Jeong and Dr. PAN Liqiang.
LEE Hyeon Jeong
Position: Principal Investigator, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science
Contribution: Dr. LEE Hyeon Jeong developed a series of novel molecular vibrational spectroscopic imaging techniques to acquire biomolecular information in situ, tackling the challenges of label-free imaging for life sciences by achieving subcellular level functional imaging. These technical developments have helped to solve problems in neuroscience, cell metabolism, and oncology. One of Dr. Lee's research accomplishments is establishing a new label-free voltage imaging for tracking neural activities. She innovatively designed a high-speed stimulated Raman imaging method, which directly measures the molecular properties of the membrane. This new technique greatly increased the sensitivity and specificity; therefore, it was used to demonstrate single action potential imaging in single mammalian neurons without any fluorescence label. As the first in the field, this achievement has made a big impact in several research fields such as biophotonics, biophysics, and life science.
PAN Liqiang
Position: Principal Investigator, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Contribution: Dr. Pan's research focuses on unveiling the molecular mechanism of TNFR signaling, and the development of novel multi-functional ligand (e.g., TRAIL, APRIL) or antibody derivatives for tumor immunotherapy via leveraging the signaling pathways of death receptors (e.g., DR5) or immunoreceptors (e.g., 4-1BB, OX40) from TNFR superfamily. He has also co-invented a revolutionary Nucleic acid–mediated protein–protein assembly (NAPPA) technology that allows pre-storage of individual antibody fragments (nanobody, scFv, and Fab) targeting different antigens, and their self-assembly “on the fly” to form multi-specific antibodies of any order of specificity during a personalized cancer treatment. provides new insights into tumor immunotherapy and can be used to develop targeted drugs. Dr. Pan’s research result has provided new insights into tumor immunotherapy and can be used to develop targeted drugs.
Writer: LIU Yuxian
Editor: TIAN Minjie
Source: MIT Technology Review
(From: ZJU NEWSROOM)