Yun Liu

Yun Liu

School of Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.


Dr. Yun Liu, a DECRA Fellow (2023-2025) at the School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide (UofA), is a rising star in the biomedical engineering and drug delivery sectors. Her impressive career has been marked by groundbreaking advancements in the development of multifunctional nanomaterials with customizable drug loading and regulated release capabilities. One of Dr. Liu's significant achievements is the co-invention of a unique sequential nanoprecipitation technology. This innovative method, for crafting drug-core polymer-shell nanoparticles (NPs), is patented and has been licensed to a company. Inspired by this, Dr. Liu co-invented another breakthrough technology, a simple yet efficient salt-induced nanoprecipitation platform. This platform creates NPs with an extraordinarily high drug loading capacity of up to 66.5%, using salt-induced liquid-liquid phase separation and nanoprecipitation. Dr. Liu has also pioneered a microfluidic technique to produce extensive libraries of nanomaterials with systematically varied properties. Moreover, she has utilized microfluidic tumour-on-a-chip models to assess nanoparticles for their viability in drug delivery applications.

Although an early career researcher, Dr Liu's expertise is already well-established, as demonstrated by her two international patents, one book chapter, and 30 peer-reviewed journal articles. Among these publications, 11 are first or co-first authored, and two have been featured on journal covers. Her work is prominently featured in top-tier journals, such as PNAS, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, ACS Nano, Small, and Advanced Healthcare Materials. Over 95% of her papers have been published in Q1-ranked SJR journals. Currently, she is leading a small team (including four PhD candidates and one master’s student) working in the drug delivery field in Prof. Chun-Xia Zhao’s (NHMRC Leadership Fellow 2022-2026) group at the UofA.

Australia Research Council - Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (ARC DECRA): Bio-inspired nanomaterials with tunable drug loading and controlled release – Develop new nanotechnology strategies for advanced manufacturing. 2023-2025. Funding awarded: $444,318

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Co-Supervisor Development of anti-swelling hydrogels for next-generation soft electronics Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Geng Yang
    2023 Co-Supervisor Development of bio-inspired cell membrane-coated (BCM) lipid nanoparticles (NPs) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Moataz Badawy Ali Saper Zewail
    2023 Principal Supervisor Development of Nanomedicine Libraries with Varied Properties for Drug Delivery Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Yilong Fan
    2022 Co-Supervisor Nanoparticle-based combination therapy for triple-negative breast cancer treatment Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Song Jin
    2021 Co-Supervisor Development of novel lipid nanoparticles for mRNA delivery Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Xing Wang

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