Dr. Mu-Ping Nieh from the University of Connecticut visited the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on June 1. During his visit, he delivered a lecture entitled Properties of Self-Assembled Discoidal Bicelles and Their Potential Applications in Bionanotechnology. 

Dr. Nieh’s research mainly focuses on the studies of liposomes and their self-assembled structure. In his report, Dr. Nieh introduced his group’s wok on the development of stable, self-assembled uniform nano-size unilamellar vesicles/liposomes (ULVs) (20 nm < diameter < 50 nm) from phospholipid mixtures. The spontaneous formation needs no extrusion, enabling the mass production of ULVs. These ULVs have demonstrated the capabilities to incorporate peptides, encapsulate water-soluble molecules as well as thermally controlled-release entrapped contents. 

Introduction to Mu-Ping Nieh  

Associate Professor 

Ph.D., University of Massachusetts (1998) 

Current Research 

Nanostructural characterization of soft materials  

Self-assembled targeting carriers for in-vivo delivery  

Aligning freely standing relevant biomimetic model membrane  

Structural phase diagrams of phospholipid mixtures (e.g., bicelles)  

Polymer hydrogels, proton exchange membrane  

Explosive detecting materials 

Previous Positions 

2005-2010 Research Officer, NRC, Canada  

2004 Research Associate, Univ. Guelph, Canada  

2002-2003 Visiting Fellow, NRC, Canada  

Awards & Honors 

2008 NRC – Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences (SIMS) “Significant Partnership” Award  

2002-2004 Visiting Fellowship, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada