Rate My Professor Chun-Xia Zhao

Professor Chun-Xia Zhao is a Professor and NHMRC Leadership Fellow in the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Adelaide. She is the Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals (COEMinerals) and leads the Bioinspired Materials and Devices research group. Her career includes positions at the University of Queensland as Associate Professor and Group Leader (2018-2021), ARC Future Fellow and Group Leader (2015-2020), ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellow (2011-2014), and Postdoctoral Researcher (2008-2010), as well as Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland (2021-2024) and Fellow of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Harvard University (2014). She holds a PhD from Zhejiang University, China (2004-2007), and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education from the University of Queensland (2015-2016).

Professor Zhao's research specializations include bioinspired engineering, biomimetic nanomaterials, and microfluidics for drug delivery and controlled release, spanning biomaterials, biomedical engineering, cancer therapy, nanobiotechnology, nanomaterials, and nanomedicine. She has received the NHMRC Leadership Fellowship (2022-2026), ARC Future Fellowship (2015-2020), Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (2011-2014), and UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award (2016), along with an NHMRC Investigator Grant. Key publications feature 'Critical Role of Nanomaterial Mechanical Properties in Drug Delivery, Nanovaccines and Beyond' (Advanced Materials, 2024), 'Nanoparticle elasticity regulates the formation of cell membrane-coated nanoparticles and their nano-bio interactions' (PNAS, 2022), 'Nanoparticle elasticity regulates phagocytosis and cancer cell uptake' (Science Advances, 2020), 'Multiphase flow microfluidics for the production of single or multiple emulsions for drug delivery' (Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 2013), and 'Development of high-drug-loading nanoparticles' (ChemPlusChem, 2020). She has secured funding from ARC, NHMRC, MRFF, and industry, holds eight patents with one licensed internationally, serves as Editor-in-Chief and editorial board member for journals, and is a member of the ARC College of Experts, with collaborations at Harvard, Cornell, and Brown Universities.