Fourth-year biomedical engineering candidate Yining Zhu has been named a 2026 Siebel Scholar, an honor that recognizes students in bioengineering fields for exemplary achievement in academia, research, and leadership.
A member of the Mao Lab, led by Professor Hai-Quan Mao, director of the Whiting School of Engineering’s Institute for NanoBioTechnology and a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhu engineers lipid nanoparticle platforms for gene therapy and mRNA vaccines to treat diseases, crafting formulations that reprogram immunity and enable precision genome editing
He currently has 28 publications, including papers in Nature Biomedical Engineering, Nature Chemical Engineering, and Nature Communications. Zhu has nine issued patents, several licensed by EMC2 Bio and evaluated by Bluebird Bio, Sartorius-Polyplus, and Evonik, highlighting his translational impact, while nationwide collaborations with clinicians accelerate clinical adoption of his patents. Honors such as a Young Investigator Award and two Society for Biomaterials STAR Awards recognize his scientific leadership. As president of his undergraduate student union at Sichuan University, he now strengthens the Johns Hopkins community as a lab captain of the Mao Lab, mentors NSF-REU trainees and junior graduate students, teaches the intersession course “Introduction to Nanomedicine,” and volunteers as a Peer Health Navigator to support student mental health.
When he first started his journey in research, Zhu knew he had always been fascinated by the intersection of biology and engineering and the potential to design new technologies that would directly address unmet needs in medicine. Over time, this curiosity evolved into a genuine love for science for Zhu; the thrill of asking questions, designing experiments, and discovering new insights.
“What really drew me into this field is the realization that the challenges in this field sparked my interest in lipid nanoparticle. I love the problem-solving aspect of this work; figuring out how to design smarter, more efficient delivery systems that can unlock the power of genetic medicine,” Zhu said. “Pursuing a PhD offered the perfect path to not only explore complex biological systems but also contribute to the development of innovative therapies that could improve human health.”
Here, Zhu talks about his research, its goals, his experiences at Johns Hopkins, and his plans.
What is the focus of your doctoral research?
I am studying how to design tiny delivery vehicles, called lipid nanoparticles, that can carry genetic instructions (like mRNA) into the body to help treat diseases such as cancer. These nanoparticles act like microscopic packages that protect the mRNA and deliver it to the right cells. My research focuses on understanding how these nanoparticles behave inside the body: how they move, where they go, how cells take them up, and how they trigger immune responses. By studying these mechanisms, I aim to improve how we design nanoparticles to more precisely target different tissues and activate the right biological pathways, leading to more effective and personalized treatments.
What are the biggest hurdles in developing these drug-delivery systems?
While powerful genetic tools like mRNA and plasmid DNA have already been developed, their full potential can’t be reached without solving a key challenge: delivery. Again and again, we find that delivery is the bottleneck to getting molecules to the right cells, at the right time, in the right amount. This requires you to constantly think outside the box. Additionally, the field is fast-moving, with many exciting trends and new technologies constantly emerging. To make real breakthroughs, you need to go beyond the obvious. Inventing a new delivery strategy or discovering a new biological insight often requires challenging assumptions, exploring unconventional ideas, and taking risks.
What is your approach to solving these challenges?
I try to stay deeply engaged and curious, devoting time not only to experiments, but also to thinking carefully about the bigger picture. It’s important to stay informed and build on what others have discovered, so I read widely, talk with people from different fields, and reflect often on how to approach problems from new angles. I believe that breakthrough ideas come from a mix of persistence and imagination, so I try to push beyond what’s expected and consider unconventional strategies. At the same time, I stay grounded by testing ideas rigorously and learning from failures. Balancing innovation with the feasibility of the ideas is difficult, but that’s also what makes this work so exciting and helps me keep moving forward, even when the science gets tough.
What are some of the practical applications of your research?
This research has the potential to greatly improve how we treat diseases like cancer, genetic disorders, and infectious diseases. By advancing how we deliver genetic medicines, like mRNA, more safely and effectively to the right cells and tissues, we can unlock new therapies that are more precise and personalized. These delivery systems could help reduce side effects, increase treatment success, and even enable entirely new kinds of medicine that weren’t possible before. In the long run, this work could help make cutting-edge therapies more accessible and impactful for patients around the world.
Who or what has shaped you most as a researcher?
I am currently the lab captain for Dr. Mao’s Homewood campus lab, where I help coordinate lab operations and support communications among team members. During my undergraduate studies at Sichuan University, I was the chair of the student union at the undergraduate level, where I led student activities and represented student voices in university affairs. Both experiences have strengthened my leadership and organizational skills and helped me stay connected to the broader academic community.
What’s next for you?
After graduation, I hope to continue academic research and eventually become a principal investigator. I’m especially interested in pivoting toward systems biology to explore how we can use computational and high-dimensional tools to better understand and engineer the immune system. I think of this as systems immunoengineering. My long-term goal is to build an interdisciplinary lab that combines biomaterials, immunology, and systems approaches to develop next-generation therapies for cancer and other immune-related diseases.
What’s your life like outside the lab?
I enjoy a mix of activities that help me stay active and recharge. I play badminton, hike, or run with my dog, and those moments outdoors really help me clear my mind. My dog’s name is Watson, named after Dr. James Watson (co-discoverer of DNA’s structure), which felt fitting since my research focuses on gene engineering. Watson is a golden retriever and has been with me since my very first day in the BME PhD program, a true “PhD dog.”
I also love to travel. Exploring new places and experiencing different cultures gives me a sense of openness and peace, and I hope to have more time in the future to travel more widely. It’s a great way to stay curious about the world, which I think also feeds back into how I approach science.
– Johnny Moseman
This story was originally published by INBT.