Research group: Functional Materials for Medicine
Functional Materials have played more and more critical role in development of novel treatment methods for different diseases. Our group focus on designing all kinds of functional materials, at different scales, to solve clinical and biological problems. We have broad collaborations with hospitals, and most of our projects have clinical doctors involved and initial from a real-life clinical question. Our group is multidisciplinary, which interplay between physics, materials science, synthetic organic chemistry, engineering, biology and medicine. We aim that many of our designs could be clinical applicable in future, and to have a great social impact in treating diseases.
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Contact: hongbo.zhang@abo.fi
Master Students
Kanwal Mazhar:
Master BIMA (Abo Akademi, Turku, Finland enrolled).
MPhil Microbiology (Quaid i Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan).
Lecturer in Department of Microbiology Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan Public Sector University ( Since 2016- Till Date).
Lecturer Microbiology Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan (2012- 2016).
Sunanda Dey Brishty has completed her Bachelor's in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS). And now she is a Master’s student in Biomedical Imaging, at Abo Akademi University. His research is focused on the targeted delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 for advanced liver cancer therapy.
Sinina Sattayakul, a master’s student at Uppsala University, is beginning her thesis work in Professor Zhang Hongbo’s lab at Åbo Akademi. Under the supervision of Li Wang and Lu Fan, her research will focus on developing multicomponent hydrogel microparticles integrated with functional nanoparticles that exhibit antimicrobial properties. These microparticles will be fabricated using a microfluidic chip.
Rida received her Bachelor’s and MS in Applied Chemistry in 2022 from the University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan. After that, she started her Master’s Program in Biomedical Imaging in 2024 at Abo Akademi University and began her internship in Hongbo Zhang’s research group in the MADNESS project, faculty of Science and Engineering, Abo Akademi University. Her training focuses on the synthesis of Nano-particles and their Applications.
Yuanyuan Liu received her bachelor‘s degree from Sichuan Agricultural University. Now she is in the second year of her master's in Drug Discovery and Development at the University of Turku, and doing her master’s thesis in Hongbo’s group mainly focusing on the effect of mineralized mitochondria transplantation on immune cells.
Others
Deependra Yadav received his master’s degree in molecular systems biology from the University of Turku. Currently, as a joint student, he performs some experimental works in Hongbo's group at Åbo Akademi University. His research mainly focuses on developing and optimizing a microfluidic platform for fabricating lignin Nanoparticles.​​
Kang Li is a doctoral student at Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, specializing in Chinese medicine. His expertise lies in the application of Chinese medicine for surgical diseases. He is honored to have the opportunity to visit Finland for academic exchange and study. Currently, he is researching the treatment of tumors using active ingredients derived from Chinese medicine.
Joni graduated from the University of Turku, with a bachelor's thesis focused on metals as a problem for fish, and with a master's thesis working on the study of transgenerational effects of combined crude oil exposure and heat shock on Daphnia magna. He started work as a research assistant in Prof. Hongbo Zhang's group in Pharmacy, Faculty of Science and Engineering at Åbo Akademi University and his work is focused on Business Finland-funded research on mitochondria.
Wang Teng-yu is a student from Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, majoring in Chinese Medicine. He specializes in pulse sensing and acupuncture. He has spent a year conducting cell experiments in his laboratory, focusing on cellular research related to the treatment of myasthenia gravis using active ingredients from Chinese medicine.
Wenhui Liu received her Master’s degree from Jiangsu University. She is pursuing further studies as a joint student in Hongbo’s group at Åbo Akademi University. Her research focuses on the targeted delivery of extracellular vesicles for advanced tumor therapy.