Dr. Jinming Gao is a Professor of Oncology, Pharmacology and Otolaryngology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. More »

The Gao lab is working at the interface of nanotechnology, cancer biology and clinical oncology. Our primary research interest is to design and develop novel nanomaterials and nanoarchitectures for cancer diagnosis and targeted therapeutic applications. One of our recent inventions is a library of "pH transistor" nanoparticles with binary off/on reporters that are finely tunable in a broad range of physiological pH (4.0-7.4). The ultra pH-sensitive property is a unique nanoscale phenomenon that arises from the cooperative self-assembly of amphiphilic copolymers. These new nanotools uncovered unprecendented biological insights on tumor acidosis, lysosome signaling and metabolism, and cytosolic delivery of biologics. Based on these knowledge, we are implementing the pH transistor technology in several clinically relevant applications, including cancer staging, image-guided surgery, and immunotherapy.

OncoNano Medicine completed the Phase I trial of pH threshold sensor (ONM-100) for cancer surgery. The company has received fast track status from the FDA to start Phase 2 trial in multiple cancer indications in 2019. PDF

A comprehensive review is published on implementing molecular cooperativity to improve percision of medicine. (Chem. Rev.) PDF

A minimalist nanovaccine, comprising a simple physical mixture of an antigen and a synthetic polymeric nanoparticle,not only enhances antigen delivery and cross-presentation, but also stimulates the STING pathway to boost antitumour immunity for cancer immunotherapy.(Nature Nanotech. ) PDF