CBE Events
Center for Bioelectronics Sponsored Events
BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES
A consortium of biomedical researchers at ODU has organized the Distinguished Biomedical Seminar Series to encourage the exchange of ideas across the bio-disciplines. Each year the consortium invites outstanding scientists and engineers to give presentations on recently completed or early-stage research that they have undertaken. Distinguished speakers are selected based on the impact of their interdisciplinary research to the bio-community. Diversity of topics is essential to meeting the purpose of the Distinguished Seminar Series.
Zhen Gu, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Bioengineering
Director, NIH Biotechnology Training Program
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
EVENT INFO
February 28, 2020 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Innovation Research Park II
4211 Monarch Way
1st Floor Conference Room
Contact Info:
Adrienne Tatem
757-683-2518
Spurred by recent advances in materials chemistry, molecular pharmaceutics and nanobiotechnology, stimuli-responsive "smart" systems offer opportunities for precisely delivering drugs in dose-, spatial- and temporal-controlled manners. In this talk, I will discuss our ongoing efforts in developing physiological signal-triggered bioinspired drug delivery systems. I will first present the glucose-responsive synthetic systems for biomimetic delivery of insulin for diabetes treatment. Development of smart insulin patches will be emphasized. I will further discuss the local and targeted delivery of immunomodulatory therapeutics for enhanced cancer therapy. Our latest studies utilizing platelets, cell conjugates and gels for delivery of immune checkpoint inhibitors will be specifically introduced.
Bio:
Dr. Zhen Gu is a Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Director of the NIH Biotechnology Training in Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Gu received his B.S. degree in Chemistry and M.S. degree in Polymer Chemistry and Physics from Nanjing University. In 2010, he obtained Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. He was a Postdoctoral Associate working with Dr. Robert Langer at MIT and Harvard Medical School during 2010 to 2012. Before he moved to UCLA in 2018, he had been appointed as a Jackson Family Distinguished Professor in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Dr. Gu's group studies controlled drug delivery, biomaterials and cell therapy. He has published over 190 research papers and applied over 80 patents. He is a co-founder of five start-up companies, including Zenomics and ZenCapsule. Dr. Gu serves as an Associate Editor for Science Advances and Nano Research. He was also an Inaugural Chair of the Bioinspired and Biomimetic Delivery (BBD) Focus Group in the Controlled Release Society (CRS). He is the recipient of the Felix Franks Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2019), Biomaterials Science Lectureship Award (2018), Young Investigator Award of CRS (2017), Sloan Research Fellowship (2016) and Pathway Award of the American Diabetes Association (ADA, 2015). MIT Technology Review listed him in 2015 as one of the top innovators under the age of 35 (TR35). He was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2019.