Dr. Yu Fan

By varying monomers, cross-linkers, and initiators, various functional groups can be introduced into the polymer network of hydrogel or nanogels. Moreover, depending on the monomers they are made of, many smart hydrogels have been developed because of their ability to swell or shrink as triggered by different external stimuli including temperature, pH, light, redox or ionic strength. With alteration of the architecture in the polymer network, it is possible to fine tune their physicochemical property (size, surface charge, crosslinker type, and hydrophobicity) to form tumor microenvironment-responsive hydrogels, which may apply in biomedical fields.

Yu Fan is part of the RG Pich.