Johns Hopkins campus
About Me

Engineering the Future of Medicine.

I work at the interface of biomaterials, gene delivery, and systems immunology to design next-generation genetic medicines and immune-engineering platforms.

Biomaterials Gene Delivery Systems Immunology Spatial Multiomics

Selected Publications

Google Scholar - 0 citations
Nature Chemical Engineering 2026
Crosslinking LNP figure
Crosslinking of lipid nanoparticles enhances the delivery efficiency and efficacy of mRNA vaccines
Liu X*, Zhu Y*, Wei C, Lin J, Yu D, Kong J, Shao F, Ma J, Xu T, Lu X, Su Y, Goodier KD, Cheng L, Toh WH, Erb CJ, Li S, Wang TH, Mao HQ.
News 1 citation
  • A reversible post-assembly crosslinking strategy enhances LNP-mediated mRNA delivery while preserving intracellular release, enabling improved endosomal escape, sustained in vivo expression, and robust immune and antitumor responses.
Materials Today 2026
Imidazolium LNP figure
Imidazolium lipid-based nanoparticles enable effective mRNA delivery and cellular immune response
Lin J*, Zhu Y*, Cheng L, Wei C, Kong J, Choy J, Lu X, Yu D, Ma J, Liu X, Su Y, Naganand S, Gueguen C, Huaulme Q, Urguia P, Mao HQ.
0 citations
  • Screening 1,944 formulations identified LipidBrick® LNPs that outperform the clinical benchmark ALC-0315, producing stronger antigen-specific T-cell responses while maintaining low cytotoxicity.
Nature Communications 2025
Nanofiber hydrogel composite figure
An mRNA lipid nanoparticle-incorporated nanofiber-hydrogel composite for cancer immunotherapy
Zhu Y*, Yao ZC*, Li S*, Ma J, Wei C, Yu D, Stelzel JL, Ni BYX, Miao Y, Van Batavia K, Lu X, Lin J, Dai Y, Kong J, Shen R, Goodier KD, Liu X, Cheng L, Vuong I, Howard GP, Livingston NK, Choy J, Schneck JP, Doloff JC, Reddy SK, Hickey JW, Mao HQ.
19 citations
  • An mRNA LNP-incorporated microgel matrix recruits immune cells, supports antigen expression and presentation, and elicits potent antitumor efficacy with a single administration.
Science Advances 2025
Spleen-tropic LNP screening figure
A multistep platform identifies spleen-tropic lipid nanoparticles for in vivo T cell-targeted delivery of gene-editing proteins
Lu X*, Zhu Y*, Wei C, Cheng L, Goodier KD, Kong J, Gao X, Yu D, Liu X, Long Y, Lin J, Ma J, Su Y, Mao HQ.
News 2 citations
  • A multistep in vivo screening platform identified LNPs that preferentially target the spleen and deliver CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoproteins directly to T cells, enabling efficient gene editing without ex vivo manipulation.
Nature Biomedical Engineering 2024
Helper T cell LNP screening figure
Screening for lipid nanoparticles that modulate the immune activity of helper T cells towards enhanced antitumour activity
Zhu Y, Ma J, Shen R, Lin J, Li S, Lu X, Stelzel JL, Kong J, Cheng L, Vuong I, Yao ZC, Wei C, Korinetz NM, Toh WH, Choy J, Reynolds RA, Shears MJ, Cho WJ, Livingston NK, Howard GP, Hu Y, Tzeng SY, Zack DJ, Green JJ, Zheng L, Doloff JC, Schneck JP, Reddy SK, Murphy SC, Mao HQ.
News 107 citations
  • An LNP screening strategy optimized helper lipid identity and component ratios to enhance dendritic cell delivery of tumour-antigen-encoding mRNA and improve immune activation toward stronger antitumour responses.
Nature Chemical Engineering 2024
Viscosity transfection figure
Tuning extracellular fluid viscosity to enhance transfection efficiency
Ma J*, Zhu Y*, Kong J, Yu D, Toh WH, Jain M, Ni Q, Ge Z, Lin J, Choy J, Cheng L, Konstantopoulos K, Konig M, Sun S, Mao HQ.
News 9 citations
  • Matching cell culture viscosity to that of biological fluids substantially improves transfection efficiency across multiple gene delivery platforms and cell types.
Biomaterials 2024
Intraduodenal delivery figure
Optimization of lipid nanoparticles for gene editing of the liver via intraduodenal delivery
Zhu Y*, Cai SS*, Ma J, Cheng L, Wei C, Aggarwal A, Toh WH, Shin C, Shen R, Kong J, Mao SA, Lao YH, Leong KW, Mao HQ.
15 citations
  • A multi-step screening strategy identified pDNA LNP formulations for intraduodenal delivery and non-viral gene editing in mouse liver, reducing PCSK9 and ANGPTL3 to lower LDL cholesterol.
Nature Communications 2022
DNA LNP multistep screening figure
Multi-step screening of DNA/lipid nanoparticles and co-delivery with siRNA to enhance and prolong gene expression
Zhu Y, Shen R, Vuong I, Reynolds RA, Shears MJ, Yao ZC, Hu Y, Cho WJ, Kong J, Reddy SK, Murphy SC, Mao HQ.
News 149 citations
  • A multi-step platform identified optimized plasmid DNA LNPs for liver-targeted delivery and prolonged transgene expression, addressing a major gap in systematic pDNA LNP design.
Nano Letters 2021
Lentiviral vector DNA particle figure
Size-controlled and shelf-stable DNA particles for production of lentiviral vectors
Hu Y*, Zhu Y*, Sutherland ND, Wilson DR, Pang M, Liu E, Staub JR, Berlinicke CA, Zack DJ, Green JJ, Reddy SK, Mao HQ.
News 31 citations
  • Size-controlled pDNA/PEI particles improved lentiviral vector production, with an optimal particle size of 400-500 nm linked to enhanced cellular uptake and transfection efficiency.
Journal of Controlled Release 2020
Melanoma photoimmunotherapy figure
Albumin-biomineralized nanoparticles to synergize phototherapy and immunotherapy against melanoma
Zhu Y*, Xue J, Chen W, Bai S, Zheng T, He C, Guo Z, Jiang M, Du G, Sun X.
99 citations
  • Albumin-biomineralized nanoparticles co-delivering a photosensitizer and immunoadjuvant were engineered to couple tumor ablation with immune activation for melanoma therapy.