Cai Group Research

Recruitment of PhD students and exchange PhD students

If you are considering any of the following research areas toward a PhD degree and want to know more, please contact me by email (cai@uh.edu).

RESEARCH INTEREST

Organic synthesis and methodology: synthesis of carbohydrate, peptide and dendrimer derivatives; efficient and stable CuAAC catalysts for bioconjugation in live cells; tags and linkers for live cell imaging and mass spectrometry analysis.

Mass spectrometry: development of sample preparation methods and nanocolumns for proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics and drug analysis of complex biological samples, using mass spectrometers including ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight (IM-QTOF) and orbitrap mass spectrometers with micro/nano-UHPLC; screening of catalysts and study of the reaction mechanism using mass spectrometry.

Drug delivery: development of a new generation of drug delivery system in contact lenses, implants and polymer particles with enhanced loading and largely prolonged release profile for a wide variety of drugs.

Anti-infection coatings, bacterial interference and biofilms: development of methods for incorporation of antimicrobial molecules such as antimicrobial peptides on polymer biomaterials (contact lenses and silicon catheters), and metal implants; study of the process of bacterial colonization and formation of (multispecies) biofilms on well-defined model surfaces presenting carbohydrates; development of high-throughput silicone catheter arrays for studying (multispecies) biofilms and bacterial interference under flow conditions; analysis of the composition of proteins and polysaccharides in extracellular matrix of biofilms and soluble molecules secreted by bacteria using mass spectrometry.

Surface functionalization: biofunctionalization, especially using click chemistry on thin films, (perfluoro)polymers, nanoparticles, liposomes, and decellularized ECMs; highly protein-resistant and stable monolayers on single crystal and porous silicon.