Jianjun Cheng
Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Affiliate, Department of Chemistry
Professor Cheng received his BS degree in chemistry from Nankai University, China, in 1993, his MS in chemistry from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1996 and his PhD in materials science from University of California, Santa Barbara in 2001. After working as a senior scientist at Insert Therapeutics, Inc. from 2001 to 2004, and as a research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2004 to 2005, he joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UIUC in 2005 as an assistant professor. He is also an affiliated faculty of Department of Bioengineering and Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. He is the recipient of a Prostate Cancer Foundation Competitive Award (2007) and a NSF Career Award (2008).
Research
Our research focuses on design, synthesis, characterization and evaluation of polymeric and nanostructured biomaterials, and covers a broad scope of multidisciplinary areas including chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology, bioengineering and pharmaceutical science.
One of our research focuses is to develop polymeric nanomedicines for drug delivery applications. The motivation of this research is to develop nanometer sized drug delivery technologies that are capable of bypassing various systemic, tissue and cellular barriers to deliver therapeutic agents for targeted disease treatment. His group has recently developed nanoconjugation technology, which uniquely integrates controlled/living ring-opening polymerization with controlled formation of translational anticancer polymeric nanoparticles. Therapeutic agents are used as polymerization initiators and are incorporated into the resulting polymeric delivery vehicles in a highly controlled manner. Besides developing nanoconjugates for cancer therapy, Cheng's research group is also interested in macromolecule and small molecule mediated in vivo cancer targeting, red blood cell hitchhiking technology for drug delivery and cancer therapy, controlled release nanoparticles to facilitate organ transplantation and to induce immunogenic cancer therapy, gene delivery, and oral protein delivery.
Another major area in Cheng's research laboratory is developing synthetic tools for controlled preparation of new polymeric biomaterials and nanomaterials. One focus in Cheng's laboratory is to develop new polymerization chemistry for controlled synthesis of polypeptides. His group recently developed organosilicon-mediated, controlled/living ring-opening polymerization of amino acid N-carboxyanhydride for the synthesis of homo- and block-polypeptides. This method allows preparation of polypeptide biomaterials with nearly any controlled end groups. Besides this, Cheng's research group is also interested in peptide and polypeptide self-assembly, polymeric hydrogel for drug delivery and tissue engineering application, stimuli-responsive biomaterials and functional polyesters.
Publications
Tong, R.; Christian, D.A.; Tang, L.; Cabral, H.; Baker, J.R. Jr.; Kataoka, K.; Discher, D.; Cheng, J. "Nanopolymeric Therapeutics", MRS Bulletin, 2009, 34, 422-431
Cao, Z.; Tong, R.; Xu, W.; Wong, GWL.; Cheng, J.;, Lu, Y. "Reversible cell-specific delivery of chemotherapy drugs using aptamer-functionalized liposomes", Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2009.
Tong, R.; Cheng, J. "Ring-Opening Polymerization Mediated-Controlled Formulation of Polylactide Nanoparticles", Journal of American Chemical Society, 2009, 131, 4744-4754
Lee, JS.; Cheng, J.; Kim, KY. "Next Generation Nanosolutions for Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis", Cancer and Chemotherapy Review, 2008, 3, 144-151
Lu, H.; Cheng, J. "Controlled Ring-Opening Polymerization of Amino Acid N-Carboxyanhydrides and Facile End Group Functionalization of Polypeptides", Journal of American Chemical Society, 2008, 130, 12562-12563
Tong, R.; Cheng, J. "Paclitaxel-Initiated, Controlled Polymerization of Lactide for the Formulation of Polymeric Nanoparticulate Delivery Vehicles", Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2008, 47, 4830-4834.
Teply, BA; Tong, R.; Jeong, SY; Luther,G.; Sherifi, I.; Yim, CH; Khademhosseini, A.; Farokhzad,OC; Langer R.; Cheng J."Charge-Coupled Polymeric Microparticles and Micromagnets Allow External Modulation of the Bioavailability of Orally Delivered Macromolecules", Biomaterials, 2008, 29, 1216-1223.
Lu, H.; Cheng, J. "Hexamethyldisilazane-Mediated Controlled Polymerization of α-Amino Acid-NCarboxyanhydrides", Journal of American Chemical Society, 2007, 129, 14114-14115
Tong, R.; Cheng, J. "Anticancer Polymeric Nanomedicines", Polymer Reviews, 2007, 47, 345-381.
Cheng, J.; Teply, B.; Sherifi, I.; Sung, J.; Luther. G.; Gu, F.X.; Levy-Nissenbaum, E.; Langer, R. Farokhzad, OC. "Formulation of Functionalized PLGA-PEG Nanoparticles for In Vivo Targeted Drug Delivery", Biomaterials, 2007, 28, 869-876.
