Li-Fang Wang
Affiliated Society: Chinese Taipei Society for Biomaterials
Country of Residence: Taiwan
Current Position: Professor
Biography:
Affiliation
Department of Medicinal & Applied Chemistry,College of Life Science Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU)
Education
- 1979-1983 B.S. in Chemistry (National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan)
- 1983-1985 M.S. in Chem. Eng. (National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan)
- 1986-1990 Ph.D. in Polymer Chem. (Polytechnic University, New York, USA)
- 1990-1991 Postdoc. in Biomed. Eng. (The Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, USA)
Professional Carrier
- 1991-2000 Associate Professor, Dept. of Medicinal & Applied Chem,KMU, Taiwan
- 2000-present Professor, Dept. of Medicinal & Applied Chem, KMU, Taiwan.
- 2003-2004 Director, Research & Development Office, KMU, Taiwan
- 2004-2005 Visiting Professor, Biomed. Eng, The Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, USA
- 2006-2009 Chairman, Dept. of Biotechnology, KMU, Taiwan
- 2012- present Dean, College of Life Science, KMU, Taiwan
Scientific Activities and Honors
- 1991- Committee Board for Chinese Biomaterials and Drug Delivery Society
- 1991- Grant Review Board for Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan
- 2006-2009 Panel Review Board for Taiwan National Science Council
- 2011- Executive committee for Chinese Chemical Society of Taipei, Kaohsiung Local Chapter
- 2014- Vice president of Controlled Release Society Taiwan Local Chapter
- 2014-2016- Panel Review Board for SBIR projects of Taiwan
- President of Chinese Taipei Society for Biomaterials and Controlled Release
Awards
- 1993, 1997 Best Teaching Award from KMU
- 2012, 2013, 2014 Excellence in Research Award from KMU
- 2012, 2013, 2014 Outstanding Research Award from the KMU Alumni Association
- 2014 Excellence in Research Award from Chao-Jen Lee Biomaterial Research Foundation
- 2009-2015 Outstanding Paper Research Award from KMU
- 2014, 2015, 2016 Outstanding Patent Applied Award from KMU
- International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering Fellow
Areas of research interest:
My research interests can be divided into two folds: Applied research in the field of biomedical polymers used for drug/gene delivery and Basic research in polymer synthesis and characterization.
In the applied research, she focuses on the study of novel biodegradable polymers for drug/gene delivery systems based on chitosan (ChI) and/or chondroitin sulfate (CS), which are natural, biocompatible, biodegradable, and nontoxic polysaccharides. Owing to highly water solubility of CS, it is impossible to use nascent CS as a drug delivery carrier. She has used physical and/or chemical approaches to modify CS as a good carrier for therapeutic agents such as doxorubicin, camptotecin, paclitaxel, cisplatin, rapamycin, and NSAID drugs. Her research activities in the applied research include the synthesis of new biodegradable polymers having biologic functions for reduction and/or pH dual-responsive properties; formulation of newly developed polymers into different physical forms like hydrogels, nanogel, nanospheres, nanoparticles and film for biomedical applications. In the basic research, she focuses on the design of architecture, position and numbers of disulfide linkages of polymers, which response to different concentrations and durations of GSH. Her research activities in the basic research include: the synthesis of inorganic compounds based on Mg for catalyzing ROP in the presence of disulfide linkages, the study of degradation rate of PCL, PLA, and PLGA containing disulfide linkages.
Research keywords:
Drug Delivery