STAFF PROFILE
Dr Yi David Ju
Yi (David) Ju is an ARC DECRA Fellow in School of Science at RMIT University. His research focuses on understanding the interactions between nanomaterials and the immune system and developing advanced nanomaterials for biotechnology and medicine.
Yi (David) Ju received his Ph.D. degree from The University of Melbourne in 2017 under the supervision of Frank Caruso. Following his Ph.D. completion, he held a Research Fellow position in the same group exploring various stealth nanomaterials for controlled bio–nano interactions and served as a Co-Leader (2017–2021) of the Signature Project ‘Mediating Protein Interactions’ within the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio–Nano Science and Technology (CBNS). He moved to RMIT University in 2021 to take up a three-year Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship and received the Victoria Fellowship from Victorian State Government in the same year. In 2022, he received an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) to study the interactions between nanomaterials and the immune system.
He has been an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Melbourne since 2021. He was a visiting researcher in the Nanomedicine Lab at the University of Manchester from January to September in 2023.
He currently serves as an editor for the Journal of Materials Science (Springer Nature), a committee member for the Victorian Branch of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI), and an active member of Australasian Colloid and Interface Society (ACIS) (https://acis.wildapricot.org).
Full list of publications can be found at:
Follow him at:
- Twitter: @David_Yi_Ju
Awards and Prizes
- 2023 ACIS ECR Lectureship, Australasian Colloid and Interface Society (2023).
- Finalist of the 2023 ACS Nano Impact Award, ACS Nano (2023).
- Enabling Capability Platform Activity Funding, RMIT University (2022&2023).
- 2020 Most Significant CBNS Publication Award, ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology (2021).
- CBNS Career Development Award, ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology (2020).
- Outstanding Postdoctoral Researcher Award, Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Melbourne (2019).
- Nanoscale Advances Oral Prize from Royal Society of Chemistry at the 10th International Nanomedicine Conference held in Sydney (2019).
- Reviewer Excellence Award for Chemistry of Materials, American Chemical Society (2017).
- Best Tutor Award, Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Melbourne (2014).
- Best Biomedical Engineering Project Award, School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne (2012).
Research Support Income
- Lead CI for Maxwell Eagle Endowment Award for Cancer Research (2024)
- Sole CI for ARC DECRA (DE230101542) (2023–2025).
- Sole CI for VC2 COVID-19 Research Seed Funding Grant from Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (2023–2024).
- Sole CI for 2021 Victoria Fellowship from Victorian State Government.
- Co-CI for ARC Discovery Project (DP210103114) (2021–2023).
- Sole CI for 2020 Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, RMIT University (2021–2024).
- Sole CI for The Early Career Researcher Grant, The University of Melbourne (2020).
- 2017: Doctor of Philosophy (Materials Chemistry), The University of Melbourne, Australia
- 2012: Master of Engineering (Biomedical Engineering) with Distinction, The University of Melbourne, Australia
- 2009: Bachelor of Bioengineering, Tianjin University of Technology, China
- Development of mRNA-encoded intrabody therapy to treat cancer. Funded by: mRNA Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund from (2024 to 2026)
- Impact of humoral immunity on nanoparticle–biological interactions. Funded by: ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) 2023 from (2023 to 2026)
- Exploring COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-induced PEG immunogenicity. Funded by: Dept of Jobs, Precincts and Regions via University of Melbourne from (2023 to 2025)
- Impact of Biological Coatings on Nanoparticle–Immune Cell Interactions (administered by The University of Melbourne). Funded by: ARC Discovery Projects 2021 from (2021 to 2024)
- Li, S.,Ma, Y.,Cui, J.,Caruso, F.,Ju, Y. (2024). Engineering poly(ethylene glycol) particles for targeted drug delivery In: Chemical Communications, 60, 2591 - 2604
- Qu, Y.,De Rose, R.,Kim, C.,Zhou, J.,Lin, Z.,Ju, Y.,Bhangu, S.,Cortez-Jugo, C.,Cavalieri, F.,Caruso, F. (2023). Supramolecular Polyphenol-DNA Microparticles for In Vivo Adjuvant and Antigen Co-Delivery and Immune Stimulation In: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 62, 1 - 11
- Hu, Y.,Cortez-Jugo, C.,Ju, Y.,Zheng, T.,Zhou, J.,Lin, Z.,De Rose, R.,Hagemeyer, C.,Alt, K.,Caruso, F. (2023). Poly(ethylene glycol) Cross-Linked Antibody Nanoparticles for Tunable Biointeractions In: Chemistry of Materials, 35, 4965 - 4978
- Ju, Y.,Kim, C.,Caruso, F. (2023). Functional Ligand-Enabled Particle Assembly for Bio-Nano Interactions In: Accounts of Chemical Research, 56, 1826 - 1837
- Spoljaric, S.,Richardson, J.,Ju, Y.,Caruso, F. (2023). Template-Mediated Engineering of Functional Metal–Phenolic Complex Coatings In: Recent Advances in Polyphenol Research, John Wiley & Sons, United States
- Kim, C.,Goudeli, E.,Ercole, F.,Ju, Y.,Gu, Y.,Xu, W.,Quinn, J.,Caruso, F. (2023). Particle Engineering via Supramolecular Assembly of Macroscopic Hydrophobic Building Blocks In: Angewandte Chemie, 63, 1 - 11
- Yu, H.,Palazzolo, J.,Ju, Y.,Niego, B.,Pan, S.,Hagemeyer, C.,Caruso, F. (2022). Polyphenol-Functionalized Cubosomes as Thrombolytic Drug Carriers In: Advanced Healthcare Materials, 11, 1 - 14
- Yu, H.,Palazzolo, J.,Zhou, J.,Ju, Y., et al, . (2022). Bioresponsive Polyphenol-Based Nanoparticles as Thrombolytic Drug Carriers In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 14, 3740 - 3751
- Hu, Y.,Li, J.,Ju, Y.,Houston, Z.,Fletcher, N.,De Rose, R.,Fernandes, S.,Hagemeyer, C.,Alt, K.,Thurecht, K.,Cortez-Jugo, C.,Caruso, F. (2022). Template-Assisted Antibody Assembly: A Versatile Approach for Engineering Functional Antibody Nanoparticles In: Chemistry of Materials, 34, 3694 - 3704
- Kim, C.,Ercole, F.,Chen, J.,Pan, S.,Ju, Y.,Quinn, J.,Caruso, F. (2022). Macromolecular Engineering of Thermoresponsive Metal-Phenolic Networks In: Journal of the American Chemical Society, 144, 503 - 514
3 PhD Current Supervisions