Hey, I’m Yi!

I am a graduate student at Northwestern University, exploring the intersection of nanotechnology and pharmaceutical science. I am actively contributing to nanomedicine design, and a co-crystallization strategy that I implemented are now used for co-delivering cargos that vary in hydrophobicity. Besides covalent chemistry, I engineered yolk-shell structures by supramolecular interaction, aiming at tuning their nanomechanical properties.

Before joining Northwestern, I enjoyed sunny days at UC San Diego, where I focus on phenolic-mediated assemblies, FRET-based nanosensors, and functional polypeptide structures, under the supervision of Prof. Jesse Jokerst. We use these materials to improve photoacoustic imaging contrast, photothermal transduction efficacy, and tumor penetration.

In my spare time, I enjoy building LEGOs 🤖, practicing kendo 🥷, and playing piano 🎹.

🌊 🎨 🎼 🏄 🔱 🦈 ⛩️ ⚔️ 🎾 🏀 ⛷️ 🎮 👻 🏊 🌊

Interests

  • Nanomaterials
  • Nanomedicine
  • Biosensors
  • Baroque polyphony

Education

  • M.S. in Nanoengineering, 2022

    University of California, San Diego

  • B.A. in Piano Performance, 2021

    Shanghai Conservatory of Music

  • B.S. in Pharmaceutical Science, 2020

    China Pharmaceutical University

Foci

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1) Phenolic-mediated assembly

🔬 Scanning electron microscope img of poly-benzene-1,4-dithiol (pBDT) nanourchins.
🧪 Exp. ran by Yi, mentored by Dr Jiajing Zhou

2) FRET-based biosensors

🌈 AuNPs clustered due to Mpro protease, driven by the hydrophobicity difference of peptide motif.
🧪 Exp. ran by Dr Zhicheng Jin and Yi

Construct drug-drug Ns to treat NSCLC

My graduating design.
Drug-delivery-drug strategies for MDR reversal and enhanced apoptosis.

Treat TNBC by gene silencing

Inoculated a dozen 96-well plates before getting this perfect graph. Developed gene editing perk trees as well.

Design drug-mediated delivery of miRNA

Used famous traditional Chinese medicine Baicalein to reduce pulmonary vascular resistance.

Self-assemblies for dual-targeting of of TME and cancer cells

My first project. Spend an memorable summer vacation with 200 mice, administering drugs and measuring tumor size everyday.

Study on non-lysosomal endocytosis

Found my programming skills surprising useful in variable control & outcome prediction, and got started with some really cool …

Study on repair effect of LincRNA on AML

Joined a pharmacology lab in my hometown for this unbelivable vacation. Finally found inner peace with imperfect WB result.

3) Biomedical Applicatons

🦠 Confocal microscope img observing intracellular photothermal transduction.
🧪 Exp. ran by Yi, mentored by Dr Yong Cheng

Peptide Amphiphile Mediated Co‐assembly for Nanoplasmonic Sensing

Aromatic interactions are commonly involved in the assembly of naturally occurring building blocks, and these interactions can be replicated in an artificial setting to produce functional materials. Here we describe a colorimetric biosensor using co-assembly experiments with plasmonic gold and surfactant-like peptides (SLPs) spanning a wide range of aromatic residues, polar stretches, and interfacial affinities.

Cocrystallization-like strategy for the codelivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs in a single carrier material-free formulation

Using nanocrystals of insoluble drug as carriers, a carrier material-free platform was developed previously to deliver a second insoluble drug for codelivery. To extend the concept, we hypothesized, herein, that the platform allows for codelivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs using a cocrystalization-like strategy.

Comparative efficacy and safety of current drugs against COVID-19: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

The rapid spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has greatly disrupted the livelihood of many people around the world. To date, more than 35.16 million COVID-19 cases with 1.037million total deaths have been reported worldwide. Compared with China, where the disease was first reported, cases of COVID-19, the number of confirmed cases for the disease in the rest of the world have been incredibly high. Even though several dugs have been suggested to be used against the disease, the said interventions should be backed by empirical clinical evidence. Therefore, this paper provides a systematic review and a meta-analysis of efficacy and safety of different COVID-19 drugs.

Academic history

MS in Nanoengineering @ UC San Diego

Intro to Nanoengineering

Prof. Donald Sirbuly

Nanosystem integration

Prof. Jesse Jokerst

Intermolecular forces

Prof. Darren Lipomi

Nanomanufacturing

Prof. Shaochen Chen

Nanosensors

Prof. Joseph Wang

Nanocharacterization

Prof. David Fenning

Polymer science and engineering

Prof. Shengqiang Cai

Advanced biophotonics

Prof. Lingyan Shi

Biomaterials and medical devices

Prof. Ekaterina Evdokimenko

➡️ View undergrad coursework

Contact

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