Medical Engineering Distinguished Seminar Series, Professor Yong Zhang

Light has a wide range of applications in biomedicine, such as light-controlled drug delivery, photodynamic therapy (PDT), and optogenetics. PDT uses light to activate photosensitizers to produce reactive oxygen species to kill cancer cells, while optogenetics uses light to activate photoresponsive proteins to regulate specific cellular functions. However, due to the low penetration depth of UV/visible light into thick tissues, they can only be applied to target areas a few millimeters deep, severely limiting their clinical application. Current fiber-optic-based technologies restrict patients' movements and often cause pain, bleeding and bacterial infection. We have developed new technologies for wirelessly delivering light to deep tissues for light therapy using nanomaterials, hydrogel implants, and LED devices.

Biography: Dr Yong Zhang is currently Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK). Prior to joining CityUHK, he was Provost Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the National University of Singapore with over 20 years of experience. Professor Zhang's research interests include functional nanomaterials, microfabricated devices, and wearable/implantable technologies for medical applications. He has published more than 350 research papers in journals such as Nature Medicine, Nature Biomedical Engineering, and PNAS, delivered more than 70 plenary/keynote/invited talks at international conferences, and received many awards such as the Humboldt Research Award (Germany), the IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award (Singapore), and the Global STEM Professorship (Hong Kong). He is a Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate Analytics), an elected Fellow of the Singapore Academy of Engineering (SAEng), the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). https://www.yongzhanglab.com/