I have been working on interdisciplinary researches, such as nonlinear optical materials, solar cell and biophotonics. My current research interest is focused on studying protein folding using optical spectroscopy and microfluidics. Proteins achieve their biologically functional states after they fold into their unique native three-dimensional structures. But how a polypeptide chain folds into its native structure in an extremely efficient way is still an unsolved secret. On the other side, it has been evidenced that some diseases are misfolding related, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Type-II diabetes. Therefore, solving protein folding problem is not only an academic interest, but also with medical significance. The ultrarapid microfluidic mixing technique allows us to resolve the very early folding phase, and gives a unique view to watch protein folding from the fully denatured state. This powerful technique gives us a better understanding of protein folding and may lead to treatments or preventive medicine for misfolding diseases. We are also developing novel microfluidic chips and combine it to new spectroscopic methods to widen its applications.
Recent Research Project：
Investigating protein folding kinetics through time/ spatial 2D resolved microfluidic mixing, CNSF Grant 61378045, 2014-2017.
Early events in protein folding studied using ultrarapid microfluidic mixing combined with multi-probe, NSF of Jiangsu Province Grant BK20131297, 2013-2016.