Welcome to the Tao Lab!
Exploiting nanotechnology, synthetic biomaterials, and “living materials” in translational medicine for better human healthcare
《Nature Medicine》: The landscape of mRNA nanomedicine
《Science Translational Medicine》: Oral delivery of liquid mRNA therapeutics by an engineered capsule for treatment of preclinical intestinal disease
《Nature Nanotechnology》: Resolvin D1 delivery to lesional macrophages using antioxidative black phosphorus nanosheets for atherosclerosis treatment
《Nature Nanotechnology》: Systemic reprogramming of tumour immunity via IL-10-mRNA nanoparticles
《Nature Nanotechnology》: Nanotechnology-based strategies against SARS-CoV-2 variants
《Nature Protocols》: Synthesis of siRNA nanoparticles to silence plaque-destabilizing gene in atherosclerotic lesional macrophages
《Nature Aging》: Using RNA therapeutics to promote healthy aging
《PNAS》: In situ sprayed NIR-responsive, analgesic black phosphorus-based gel for diabetic ulcer treatment
《Nature Reviews Cardiology》: Nanomedicine-based strategies for the treatment of vein graft disease
《PNAS》: Inhaled mRNA nanoparticles dual-targeting cancer cells and macrophages in the lung for effective transfection
《Nature Reviews Materials》: A materials science perspective on tackling COVID-19
《PNAS》: Intravesical delivery of KDM6A-mRNA via mucoadhesive nanoparticles inhibits the metastasis of bladder cancer
《Nature Reviews Cancer》: mRNA-based cancer therapeutics
《Science Translational Medicine》: Synthetic mRNA nanoparticle-mediated restoration of p53 tumor suppressor sensitizes p53-deficient cancers to mTOR inhibition
《Nature Reviews Cardiology》: Macrophage-targeted nanomedicine for diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis
《Nature Communications》: Microalgae-based oral microcarriers for gut microbiota homeostasis and intestinal protection in cancer radiotherapy
《Nature Reviews Methods Primers》: Nanotechnology-based mRNA vaccines
《Nature Communications》: Capturing functional two-dimensional nanosheets from sandwich-structure vermiculite for cancer theranostics
《JACS》: Oral hydrogel microbeads-mediated in situ synthesis of selenoproteins for regulating intestinal immunity and microbiota
Research Interest
Recent Publications
• Yang C, Saiding Q, Chen W, An S, Zhao S, Khan M, Kong N, Ge M, Shi J, Lin H, Tao W*. Chemically modified and inactivated bacteria enable intra-biofilm drug delivery and long-term immunity against implant infections. Nature Biomedical Engineering 2025, doi: 10.1038/s41551-025-01600-8.
• Zhou Z, Chen D, Ouyang J, Kong N, Zhang H, Zhou L, Wang J, Xu T, Chen W, Kong N, Tao W*, Wang H. Modular antimicrobials for rapidly eradicating substantial multidrug-resistant bacteria by targeting phosphatidylglycerol. Nature Biomedical Engineering 2026.
• Liu C, Yaremenko A, Li X, Zhou X, Liu N, You X, Chen W, Kong N, Xie T, Gaiha G, Langer R, Tao W*. mRNA technology for the prevention and treatment of HIV-1 infection. Nature Reviews Bioengineering 2025, doi: 10.1038/s44222-025-00387-2.
• Huang X, Liu C, Sharma S, You X, Chen S, Li Y, Liu H, Liu B, Saiding Q, Chen W, Lee Y, Kong N, Abdi R, Tao W*. Oral delivery of liquid mRNA therapeutics by an engineered capsule for treatment of preclinical intestinal disease. Science Translational Medicine 2025, 17(807): eadu1493.
• Li Z, Yang Y, Shi Y, Hu D, Gao D, Zhang Y, Yu H, Luo Z, Saiding Q, Kong N, Qian H, Liu Y, Zheng H, Li Y, Tao W*, Sheng Z. Bioengineered photosynthetic nanothylakoids reshape inflammatory microenvironment for rheumatoid arthritis therapy. Nature Nanotechnology 2025, doi: 10.1038/s41565-025-02063-3.
• Liu C, Huang X, Chen K, Xiong S, Yaremenko A, Zhen X, You X, Rossignoli F, Tang Y, Koo S, Chen W, Kong N, Xie T, Shah K, Tao W*. Systemic reprogramming of tumour immunity via IL-10-mRNA nanoparticles. Nature Nanotechnology 2025, 20(10): 1526-1538.
• Chen S, Chen Q, You X, Zhou Z, Kong N, Ambrosio F, Cao Y, Abdi R, Tao W*. Using RNA therapeutics to promote healthy aging. Nature Aging 2025, 5(6): 968-983.
• Zhou Z, Chen W, Cao Y, Abdi R, Tao W*. Nanomedicine-based strategies for the treatment of vein graft disease. Nature Reviews Cardiology 2025, 22(4): 255-272.
• He Z, Chen W, Hu K, Luo Y, Zeng W, He X, Li T, Ouyang J, Li Y, Xie L, Zhang Y, Xu Q, Yang S, Guo M, Zou W, Li Y, Huang L, Chen L, Zhang X, Saiding Q, Wang R, Zhang M, Kong N, Xie T, Song X, Tao W*. Resolvin D1 delivery to lesional macrophages using antioxidative black phosphorus nanosheets for atherosclerosis treatment. Nature Nanotechnology 2024, 19(9): 1386-1398.
• Tang Z, You X, Xiao Y, Chen W, Li Y, Huang X, Liu H, Xiao F, Liu C, Koo S, Kong N, Tao W*. Inhaled mRNA nanoparticles dual-targeting cancer cells and macrophages in the lung for effective transfection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2023, 120(44): e2304966120 (PNAS Direct Submission).
• Chen S, Huang X, Xue Y, Álvarez-Benedi E, Shi Y, Chen W, Koo S, Siegwart D, Dong Y, Tao W*. Nanotechnology-based mRNA vaccines. Nature Reviews Methods Primers 2023, 3: 63.
• Liu C, Shi Q, Huang X, Koo S, Kong N, Tao W*. mRNA-based cancer therapeutics. Nature Reviews Cancer 2023, 23(8): 526-543.
• Huang X, Kong N, Zhang X, Cao Y, Langer R, Tao W*. The landscape of mRNA nanomedicine. Nature Medicine 2022, 28(11): 2273–2287.
• Huang X, Kon E, Han X, Zhang X, Kong N, Mitchell M, Peer D, Tao W*. Nanotechnology-based strategies against SARS-CoV-2 variants. Nature Nanotechnology 2022, 17(10): 1027–1037.
• Kong N, Zhang R, Wu G, Sui X, Wang J, Kim NY, Blake S, De D, Xie T, Cao Y, Tao W*. Intravesical Delivery of KDM6A-mRNA via Mucoadhesive Nanoparticles Inhibits the Metastasis of Bladder Cancer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2022, 119(7): e2112696119 (PNAS Direct Submission).
• Huang X, Liu C, Kong N, Xiao Y, Yurdagul A, Tabas I, Tao W*. Synthesis of siRNA nanoparticles to silence plaque-destabilizing gene in atherosclerotic lesional macrophages. Nature Protocols 2022, 17(3): 748–780.
• Chen W, Schilperoort M, Cao Y, Shi J, Tabas I, Tao W*. Macrophage-Targeted Nanomedicine for Diagnosis and Treatment of Atherosclerosis. Nature Reviews Cardiology 2022, 19(4): 228–249.
• Ouyang J, Ji X, Zhang X, Feng C, Tang Z, Kong N, Xie A, Wang J, Sui X, Deng L, Liu Y, Kim JS, Cao Y, Tao W*. In situ sprayed NIR-responsive, analgesic black phosphorus-based gel for diabetic ulcer treatment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2020, 117(46): 28667-28677 (PNAS Direct Submission).
• Tang Z, Kong N, Zhang X, Liu Y, Hu P, Mou S, Liljeström P, Shi J, Tan W, Kim JS, Cao Y, Langer R, Leong K, Farokhzad OC, Tao W*. A materials science perspective on tackling COVID-19. Nature Reviews Materials 2020, 5(11): 847-860.
Cover Galleries from the Tao Lab
Sponsors: The Tao Lab is supported by
Academic Life
Lab Activities and Entertainments
Interested in our lab? Let’s Work Together!
We’re always welcoming candidates, who are self-motivated and have a strong sense of responsibility, to join our team with different roles. Please feel free to reach out, and send the CV and names of three references to Dr. Tao (wtao@bwh.harvard.edu).