Dr. Mai is an enthusiastic material chemist having 9 years of experience working on advanced polymer chemistry and self-assembly, surface functionalization of nanoparticles and multi-functional nanomaterials for biomedical applications. His main research interests focus on the exploitation of living radical polymerization and click chemistry to prepare well-defined stimuli-responsive polymeric nanomaterialshydrogels toward applications in biomedical field such as drug delivery and cancer immunotherapy. His goal is to use advanced polymer chemistry to molecularly engineer polymeric materials, achieving a highly multi-functional materials with unprecedented and on-demand characteristics. During his career, Dr. Mai has participated in several European and national projects in Europe on the development of novel nanomaterials for cancer treatment. He had been awarded an ADMIRE-Marie Skodowska-Curie Fellowship from November 1st, 2021, to October 31st, 2022) with a research grant focusing on the potential of combined photothermal therapy and controlled drug delivery in Glioblastoma treatment. In addition, he was the recipient of Travel grant for PepsiCo and New York Academy of Science STEM Symposium 2018 (2000 $) and the winner of First prize in the pitch challenge, Drug delivery, Micro- and Nano Sensors PhD Summer Schools, Denmark (2016). He is currently a LecturerAssistant Professor in Biomaterials Chemistry with permanent at the School of Biological and Chemical Science, University of Galway.

I am a passionate polymer chemist with more than 10 years of experiences working with different types of polymeric materials, ranging from nano- to macro-scale, as well as realizing their potentials for biomedical applications. I have been consistently interested in delivering novel nanomaterials to tackle different diseases with a strong focus on cancer, which has been a challenging disease for decades and requires an effective therapy urgently. My research encompasses different aspects in biomaterials development and applications, ranging from syntheses, characterizations to therapeutic validations. My research group is fascinated by the beauties of living radical polymerization, thus we use living radical polymerization as a workhorse to synthesize polymers with unprecedented control over their architectures and physicochemical properties. This, in turn, will allow for the possibility of the developed materials to meet all the demanding requirements for a specific application in drug delivery and biomedical field. Currently, my research interests are centered at four different pillars focusing on, but not limited to, cancer therapy. They include: i) Novel hybrid nanomaterials for combined cancer therapy and drug delivery, ii) Stimuli-responsive injectable hydrogelsnanoparticles to harness cancer immunotherapy, iii) Targeting polymer-drugs conjugate nanoparticulate systems, and iv) Understanding the interaction between polymeric nanoparticlesbiomaterials and living organism.I do believe in the values of multidisciplinary research and am always looking for the opportunities to build up a research group with diverse scientific backgrounds. I am always looking for new members and collaborators who shares with us this common interest to leverage chemistry and solve the real-world problems.

Polymer Chemistry and Nanochemistry