Faculty
Li Kai is currently an associate professor and doctoral tutor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology. He was selected as the 14th National Youth Thousand People Program. His research interests include the development of novel molecular probes and nanoprobes and their applications in cancer diagnosis and regenerative medicine. Dr. Li received his Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore in 2011. He has systematically studied the application of conjugated polymer nanoparticles as a novel fluorescent probe in biomedical applications and won the National Outstanding Self-financed International Scholarship. He then joined the Research Institute of Materials and Engineering of the Singapore Science and Technology Research Institute as a research scientist. In 2013, he was awarded the Young Scientists' Career Development Award by the Singapore Science and Technology Research Bureau. In 2015-2017, he joined the Stanford University School of Molecular Imaging Center as a visiting scholar for collaborative research. Dr. Li has many years of academic accumulation in related research fields. The development of new fluorescent nanoparticles and cell tracers has been reported by Nature magazine on the topic of 'The nanolight revolution is coming'. So far, 4 patents have been applied for PCT patents. 1 item, published more than 70 academic papers, and cited more than 6,500 times in academic journals including Nature, Science Translational Medicine, Chemical Reviews, Chemical Society Reviews, including more than 100 papers in a single article. The current H-index is 42.
Education
1999-2003 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology Bachelor
2004-2006 Master of Polymer Engineering, Chungnam National University
2008-2011 Ph.D., Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, National University of Singapore
Work Experience
2018-present Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology
2015-2017 Visiting Scholar, Molecular Imaging Center, Stanford University School of Medicine
2011-2018 Research Institute of Materials Engineering, Singapore Research Bureau Research Scientist, PI
Honors and rewards
2018 The 14th National Youth Thousand Talents Program
2016 World Molecular Imaging Conference Travel Award
2015 Singapore Finnish Science and Technology Research Bureau International Fellowship
2013 Singapore Institute of Science and Technology Young Researcher Career Development Award
2011 Ministry of Education Excellent Self-financed International Student Scholarship
2008 National University of Singapore President Scholarship
2004 Korea Science and Technology Foundation Excellent Foreign Student Scholarship
2003 Excellent graduates of colleges and universities in Beijing
SCI papers
1. Huaxiao Yang,* Xulei Qin, Huiyuan Wang, Xin Zhao, Yonggang Liu, Hung-Ta Wo, Chun Liu, Masataka Nishiga, Haodong Chen, Jing Ge, Nazish Sayed, Oscar J. Abilez, Dan Ding, Sarah C. Heilshorn, Kai Li.* An in vivo miRNA delivery system for restoring infarcted myocardium. ACS Nano 2019, 13, 9880-9894.
2. Jen-Shyang Ni, Tianliang Min, Yaxi Li, Menglei Zha, Pengfei Zhang, Chun Loong Ho, Kai Li.* Planar AIEgens with enhanced solid-state luminescence and ROS-generation for multidrug-resistant bacteria treatment. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 10179-10185.
3. Xuanyu Li, Menglei Zha, Yaxi Li, Jen-Shyang Ni, Tianliang Min, Tianyi Kang, Guang Yang, Hao Tang, Kai Li,* Xingyu Jiang.* Sub-10 nm aggregation-induced emission quantum dots assembled by microfluidics for enhanced tumor-targeting and reduced retention in the liver. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 21899-21903. (Hot Paper)
4. Menglei Zha, Xiangwei Lin, Jen-Shyang Ni,* Yaxi Li, Yachao Zhang, Xun Zhang, Lidai Wang,* Kai Li.* An ester-substituted semiconducting polymer with efficient nonradiative decay enhances NIR-II photoacoustic performance for monitoring of tumor growth. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 23268-23276.
5. Jen-Shyang Ni, Xun Zhang, Guang Yang, Tianyi Kang, Xiangwei Lin, Menglei Zha, Yaxi Li, Lidai Wang, Kai Li.* A photoinduced nonadiabatic decay-guided molecular motor triggers effective photothermal conversion for hyperthermia cancer therapy. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 11298-11302.
6. Zonghai Sheng, Yaxi Li, Dehong Hu, Tianliang Min, Duyang Gao, Jen-Shyang Ni, Pengfei Zhang, Yuenan Wang, Xin Liu, Kai Li,* Hairong Zheng,* Ben Zhong Tang.* Centimeter-deep NIR-II fluorescence imaging with nontoxic AIE probes in non-human primates. Research 2020, 2020, 4074593.
7. Guang Yang, Jen-Shyang Ni, Yaxi Li, Menglei Zha, Yao Tu, Kai Li.* Acceptor engineering for optimized ROS generation facilitates reprogramming macrophages to M1 phenotype in photodynamic immunotherapy. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 5386-5393. (Hot Paper, Highly Cited)
8. Tianyi Kang, Jen-Shyang Ni, Tingting Li, Jun Wang, Zeshun Li, Yaxi Li, Menglei Zha, Chen Zhang, Xue Wu, Heng Guo, Lei Xi, Kai Li.* Efficient and precise delivery of microRNA by photoacoustic force generated from semiconducting polymer-based nanocarriers. Biomaterials 2021, 275, 120907.
9. Guang Yang, Song-Bo Lu, Chong Li, Feng Chen, Jen-Shyang Ni, Menglei Zha, Yaxi Li, Ji Gao, Tianyi Kang, Chao Liu, Kai Li.* Type I macrophage activator photosensitizer against hypoxic tumor. Chem. Sci. 2021, 12, 14773-14780.
10. Cheng Zhou, Zeshun Li, Ziyue Zhu, Geraldine W. N. Chia, Alexander Mikhailovsky, Ricardo Javier Vázquez, Samuel J. W. Chan, Kai Li,* Bin Liu,* Guillermo C. Bazan.* Conjugated oligoelectrolytes for long-term tumor tracking with incremental NIR-II emission. Adv. Mater. 2022, 34, 2201989.
11. Jun Wang, Qinzhen Li, Hui Zhao, Wentong Yue, Kaiwen Zhang, Xingyu Jiang,* Kai Li.* Facile and controllable synthesis of the renal-clearable “luminous pearls” for in vivo afterglow/magnetic resonance imaging. ACS Nano 2022, 16, 462-472.
12. Yaxi Li, Menglei Zha, Tianyi Kang, Chong Li, Xue Wu, Shuxian Wang, Song-Bo Lu, Yi-Shan Lee, Yun-Rong Wu, Jen-Shyang Ni,* Kai Li.* Promoted NIR-II fluorescence by heteroatom-inserted rigid-planar cores for monitoring cell therapy of acute lung injury. Small 2022, 18, 2270006.
13. Jun, Wang, Menglei Zha, Hui Zhao, Wentong Yue, Decheng Wu, Kai Li.* Detection of kidney dysfunction through in vivo magnetic resonance imaging with renal-clearable gadolinium nanoprobes. Anal. Chem. 2022, 94, 4005-4011.
14. Chong Li, Minghao Han, Ji Gao, Shuxian Wang, Song-Bo Lu, Yaxi Li, Zhao Liu, Chen Zhang, Zhaojin Wang, Fangliang Wang, Yang Sun, Chun Loong Ho, Kai Wang, Yun Shen, Kai Li.* Enhancing photodynamic inactivation via tunning spatial constraint on photosensitizer. Sci. China Chem. 2024, 67, 652-663.
15. Yingying Meng, Ji Gao, Peirong Zhou, Xudong Qin, Miao Tian, Xiaohui Wang, Cheng Zhou,* Kai Li,* Fei Huang,* Yong Cao. NIR-II conjugated electrolytes as biomimetics of lipid bilayers for in vivo liposome tracking. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202318632.
16. Ji Gao, Weijun Wu, Lulu Zhou, Shaokuan Gong, Chong Li, Xihan Chen,* Yiming Li,* Kai Li.* Facile blinking dyes with spontaneous enol-keto tautomerism for super-resolution imaging of subcellular targets. CCS Chem. 2024, doi: 10.31635/ccschem.024.202303818.