Speaker:
Prof. David Tai Leong, National University of Singapore.
Tittle: Photosynthetic Mammalian Corneal Cells and Immunotherapy Enhancing Extracellular Vesicles
Time: 10:00 August 13th, 2026 (Thursday)
Venue: Conference Room No.6, Building No.5
Host: Prof. Miao Zhang
Abstract:
David will share two of their latest work. LEAF-- tiny plant-derived structures that, when introduced into corneal cells, can perform real photosynthesis inside the human eye. LEAF converts light into the cellular fuel (NADPH and ATP) that corneal cells need to fight oxidative stress and inflammation. This work opens the door to using light as a therapeutic energy source in the body, and hints at a remarkable possibility: animal cells forming a beneficial, symbiosis-like partnership with plant-derived structures.
To enhance immune response aginist tumor, David’s team developed nanoparticles derived from plants and coated with a calcium-based mineral that, when injected directly into a tumor, kick-start dendritic cells into action and prompt them to release large numbers of extracellular vesicles that carry tumor information to the lymph nodes. This triggers a powerful immune response against any surviving cancer cells without the dendritic cells ever leaving the entrapped tumor niche.
Info.:
David Tai Leong is an Associate Professor, serving as the Deputy Head for Research at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS). He obtained his PhD in Biology and Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from NUS and received his post-doctoral training at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests span across fundamental understanding of biological effects of nano-materials to their applications in nanomedicine, biosensing and nanotoxicology and published his findings as corresponding and senior authorship in Cell (1), Nature Nanotechnology (5) and Nature Communications (10) and many other materials sciences and chemistry journals. He is a FRSC and JSPS Fellow and served as an associate editor of Bioactive Materials (latest impact factor 23.6).
