Dr Yi (David) Ju
Head, Nanomedicine and Gene Therapeutics Laboratory
Dr Yi (David) Ju is fascinated by the potential of nanotechnology to reshape cancer treatments. His goal is to develop more precise and personalised strategies that harness advanced nanoparticle engineering and mRNA therapeutics to improve patient outcomes.
Dr Ju is Head of the Nanomedicine and Gene Therapeutics Laboratory at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI), and Senior Research Fellow and ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow at the School of Cancer Medicine, La Trobe University. He holds honorary appointments at both the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. His research focuses on understanding and controlling how nanomaterials interact with the immune system, and on translating these insights into more effective therapies for hard-to-treat cancers.
He received my PhD from The University of Melbourne in 2017 under Professor Frank Caruso, investigating “stealth” nanomaterials and their interactions with biological systems. After his doctoral studies, Dr Ju continued as a Research Fellow, exploring ways to engineer nanoparticles for enhanced circulation and targeted delivery. From 2017 to 2021, Dr Ju co-led the “Mediating Protein Interactions” Signature Project within the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio–Nano Science and Technology, where he focused on how proteins bind and modulate immune responses to nanoparticles.
In 2021, Dr Ju joined RMIT University as a Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow and received the Victoria Fellowship from the Victorian State Government, which supported his visiting research at the University of Manchester. Soon after, he was awarded an ARC DECRA Fellowship to deepen his investigation of nanomaterial–immune system interactions. During this period, he pioneered studies on the immunogenicity of polyethylene glycol (PEG) in mRNA vaccine formulations and developed strategies to enhance their safety and specificity. To date, he has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications. garnering over 5,000 citations (h-index 39), and secured more than $3.6 million ($2 million as a sole or lead CI) in competitive research funding.
Since establishing his laboratory at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Dr Ju has focused on creating the next-generation nanoparticle systems, in particular lipid nanoparticles, for delivering mRNA-based therapeutics to “undruggable” molecular targets.
Beyond his research, Dr Ju serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Materials Science (Springer Nature) and as a Committee Member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Victorian Branch.
By bridging fundamental discoveries in nanotechnology and immunology with real-world clinical applications, Dr Ju aims to accelerate the development of transformative cancer therapies.
