STAFF PROFILE
Dr Maggie Zhai
Dr Jiali (Maggie) Zhai seeks to solve outstanding biomedical problems by developing responsive and composite nanomaterials and innovate in value added foods by advancing food colloidal systems.
Dr Jiali (Maggie) Zhai obtained her PhD at Monash University in 2013. Before joining RMIT, she was awarded the CSIRO Office of Chief Executive Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2015. Her primary research interests include fundamental understanding of amphiphile self-assembly, liquid crystals, ionic liquids, biomolecular structure and behaviour at interfaces. Her research also takes an applied and multidisciplinary approach to solve outstanding biomedical problems such as nanotechnology-enabled targeted drug delivery, biomedical imaging, protein and gene delivery, and functional food colloids.
In 2020, Maggie was awarded the Victoria Fellowship by the Victorian State Government, Australia, to undertake a study mission of designing super-swollen lipid nanoparticles for protein and gene delivery in four European countries and two European synchrotron facilities. Maggie has strong expertise in synchrotron-based techniques such as small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and circular dichroism (CD) techniques, which she uses to develop new methods to study self-assembly in biologically relevant systems, and the structures of proteins and DNAs at membrane interface.
Research
- Multiple projects in amphiphile self-assembly, nanoparticle-cell interactions, nanoparticle drug delivery, functional food colloids
- Supervision of HDR students
Teaching
- Food Chemistry (CHEM 1083/1226)
- Food Manufacturing (ONPS 2533/2546)
Engagement and Contribution
- Treasurer, Board Director of the Australasian Colloids and Interface Society (ACIS) (2023 to 2025)
- ANSTO Australian Sychrotron User Advisory Committee member (2022 to 2024)
- Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC)
- Chartered Member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (MRACI CChem)
- ECR Committee member of the Australian Chapter of the Controlled Release Society (CRS)
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Monash University, Australia, 2013
- Master of Business Administration (MBA), Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, Australia, 2017
- Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours), Monash University, Australia, 2007
- El Mohamad, M.,Han, Q.,Clulow, A.,Cao, C.,Safdar, A.,Stenzel, M.,Drummond, C.,Greaves, T.,Zhai, J. (2024). Regulating the structural polymorphism and protein corona composition of phytantriol-based lipid nanoparticles using choline ionic liquids In: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 657, 841 - 852
- Yu, H.,Dyett, B.,Kirby, N.,Cai, X.,EL Mohamad, M.,Bozinovski, S.,Drummond, C.,Zhai, M. (2024). pH-Dependent Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Mesophase and Ionization Behavior of Phytantriol-Based Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticles In: Small, , 1 - 10
- Ragini, S.,Dyett, B.,Sarkar, S.,Zhai, M.,White, J.,Banerjee, R.,Drummond, C.,Conn, C. (2024). A systematic study of the effect of lipid architecture on cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of cationic cubosomes In: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 663, 82 - 93
- Yu, H.,Angelova, A.,Angelov, B.,Dyett, B.,Matthews, L.,Zhang, Y.,EL Mohamad, M.,Cai, X.,Valimehr, S.,Drummond, C.,Zhai, J. (2023). Real-Time pH-Dependent Self-Assembly of Ionisable Lipids from COVID-19 Vaccines and In Situ Nucleic Acid Complexation In: Angewandte Chemie, 62, 1 - 12
- Chang, C.,Li, X.,Zhai, J.,Su, Y.,Gu, L.,Li, J.,Yang, Y. (2023). Stability of protein particle based Pickering emulsions in various environments: Review on strategies to inhibit coalescence and oxidation In: Food Chemistry: X, 18, 1 - 9
- Han, Q.,EL Mohamad, M.,Brown, S.,Zhai, J.,Rosado, C.,Blanch, E.,Drummond, C.,Shen, Y.,Greaves, T. (2023). Small angle X-ray scattering investigation of ionic liquid effect on the aggregation behavior of globular proteins In: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 648, 376 - 388
- Li, H.,Subramanian Iyer, K.,Bao, L.,Zhai, J.,Li, J. (2023). Advances in the Development of Granular Microporous Injectable Hydrogels with Non-spherical Microgels and Their Applications in Tissue Regeneration In: Advanced Healthcare Materials, , 1 - 23
- Yu, H.,Angelova, A.,Angelov, B.,Dyett, B.,Matthews, L.,Zhang, Y.,El Mohamad, M.,Cai, X.,Valimehr, S.,Drummond, C.,Zhai, J. (2023). Real-Time pH-Dependent Self-Assembly of Ionisable Lipids from COVID-19 Vaccines and In Situ Nucleic Acid Complexation In: Angewandte Chemie, 62, 1 - 12
- Farrelly, M.,Zhai, J.,Tiong, A.,Van'thag, L.,Yu, H.,Li, J.,Martin, L.,Thang, S. (2023). Membrane interaction and selectivity of novel alternating cationic lipid-nanodisc assembling polymers In: Biomaterials Science, 11, 5955 - 5969
- Yu, H.,Iscaro, J.,Dyett, B.,Zhang, Y.,Seibt, S.,Martinez Gomez, N.,White, J.,Drummond, C.,Bozinovski, S.,Zhai, M. (2023). Inverse Cubic and Hexagonal Mesophase Evolution within Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticles Correlates with mRNA Transfection in Macrophages In: Journal of the American Chemical Society, 145, 24765 - 24774
4 PhD Completions8 PhD Current Supervisions
- Deciphering lipid-RNA nanocarrier structure upon RNA complexation. Funded by: ARC-Discovery Projects from (2024 to 2027)
- A platform technology for developing mesoporous polymer particles (administered by Monash University). Funded by: ARC Discovery Projects 2023 via Other University from (2023 to 2026)
- From relapse inhibition to breast regeneration: an injectable hydrogel for post-breast conserving surgery treatment. Funded by: CASS Foundation - grant from (2023 to 2024)
- Novel mRNA therapeutic strategies for reprogramming tumour associated macrophages in lung cancer. Funded by: mRNA Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund from (2022 to 2024)
- ANSTO International Synchrotron Access Program Travel Grant - Millisecond Rapid Mixing Stopped-Flow BioSAXS Study Comparing the mRNA and Ribonucleoprotein Loading Mechanism in BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine LNPs. Ref: AS/IA222/18998. Funded by: ANSTO [Aust Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation] from (2022 to 2023)