Professor Zhao Yanli Named Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
Congratulations to Professor Zhao Yanli from the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Nanyang Technological University for being elected as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Professor Zhao Yanli has been elected to the 2026 College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), cited “for pioneering interdisciplinary research in materials chemistry and biomedical engineering, advancing bioimaging, therapy, and innovative nanomedicine platforms.”
According to AIMBE, the election to its College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions for medical and biological engineers, comprised of the top two percent of engineers in these fields. Professor Zhao was inducted along with 175 new AIMBE fellows during the AIMBE Annual Event in Arlington, Virginia USA on 13 April 2026.
Professor Zhao’s group at Nanyang Technological University conducts research in an interdisciplinary area of materials chemistry and biomedical engineering with an emphasis on the design and synthesis of integrated functional systems for targeted bioimaging and therapy in the disease treatment. He and his team have developed several types of therapeutic systems that can simultaneously target diseased cells, enable the location to be imaged by optical methods, and release therapeutic drugs to the diseased sites by commands. During their recent research, they have developed single-metal atom biocatalysts for biomedical applications such as antitumor immunotherapy. Single-metal atom biocatalysts usually possess high catalytic activity and selectivity owing to their well-defined structures and maximized atom utilization. Various single-metal atom biocatalysts have been custom-designed and prepared to precisely match the specific microenvironment of diseases, showing a promise in achieving efficient therapy outcome. They have also studied the role of single-metal atom biocatalysts from the atomic structure level, optimized catalytic active sites, coordination environment, and active site-support interactions, and elucidated their underlying mechanisms in biocatalytic processes.
References
1. Y. Liu, H. Zhao, R. Niu, B. Zhang, S. Bi, S. Song, Y. Wang, H. Zhang, Y. L. Zhao, Defective single-site nanozymes with exposed unsaturated Cu-N2 sites for antitumor immunotherapy via innate immune-checkpoint blockade. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, 148, 9277–9295.
2. Y. Liu, R. Niu, Y. Wang, H. Zhang, Y. L. Zhao, Preparation and biomedical applications of single-metal atom catalysts. Nat. Protoc. 2026, 21, 775–807.
