• Nanoscience and nanomedicine
• Biomedical science and engineering
• Near-infrared-II/short wavelength infrared (NIR-II/SWIR) molecular imaging for cancer and immunology
• Nano-vaccines

Dai is currently a Chair Professor of Chemistry at Hong Kong University and J. G. Jackson and C. J. Wood Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus at Stanford University. Dai has made fundamental contributions to nanosciences and nanomedicine. Dai developed widely adopted chemical vapor deposition for carbon nanotubes; invented the first electrical nanosensors using nanotube transistors; pushed nanotube transistors to the ballistic limit; pioneered nano-carbon biological applications for novel imaging and therapy; and pioneered the field of in vivo NIR-II/SWIR imaging.

Dai was born May 2, 1966, in Shaoyang City, Hunan Province of China. He received a BS degree in Physics from Tsinghua University in 1989, a MS degree in Applied Sciences from Columbia University in 1991, and a PhD in Applied Physics/Physical Chemistry from Harvard University in 1994.

Professor Dai’s group has been a leader in the area of nanoscience, nanotechnology and nanomedicine. His work is highly interdisciplinary, bridging physical sciences and medicine.

Professor Dai’s students and postdocs are all over the world including many professors at Universities such as Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, Yale, Duke, USC, BC, Univ. Tokyo, Tsinghua, Fudan, Peking University, Nanjing University, SooChow University, et. al.

In 2009 Professor Dai’s lab pioneered carbon nanotube and nano-graphene based drug delivery and photothermal therapy, and pioneered the field of in vivo NIR-II/SWIR (near-infrared-II/short wave infrared) biological imaging in 2009.

The Dai group discovered that owing to reduced light scattering and tissue autofluorescence, in vivo fluorescence imaging in the near-infrared II or short-wave-infrared (NIR-II/SWIR, 1000-3000 nm) optical window affords non-invasive in vivo live-animal imaging of organs, vessels and cells with high spatiotemporal resolution at millimeter-to-centimeter tissue penetration depths. Such imaging can resolve single cells and blood vessels with molecular specificity, offering a powerful imaging modality that complements MRI, PET and X-ray for basic preclinical research and potential clinical translations.

Our current research interest in the biomedical areas include the following:

• Development of new fluorescence imaging probes (molecules, nanoparticles) in the NIR-II/SWIR (1000-3000 nm) window.
• Developing genetically engineered NIR emitting fluorescent proteins.
• Develop new optical imaging techniques integrating 1-, 2- and 3- photon detections in the visible and NIR-II/SWIR.
• Molecular imaging of preclinical mouse models of diseases (including cancer, cardiovascular, brain/neurological, etc.) in vivo.
• In vivo Imaging of immune responses to immunotherapy and vaccinations.
• Nanovaccine development for cancer immunity and infectious diseases.
• Towards clinical translation of NIR-II/SWIR imaging for perfusion, lymph node mapping, immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy and imaging guided surgery.

We are actively recruiting graduate PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. Candidates with strong background in chemistry, applied physics, materials science/chemical engineering/ bioengineering and medicine are encouraged to apply for these positions. Send your inquiry to hjdai@hku.hk with your CV.

1. Ren, F., Wang, F., Baghdasaryan, A., Li, Y., Liu, H., Hsu, R.S., Wang, C., Li, J., Zhong, Y., Salazar, F., Xu, C., Jiang, Y., Ma, Z., Zhu, G., Zhao, X., Wong, K.K., Willis, R., Christopher Garcia, K., Wu, A., Mellins, E., Dai, H.

   Shortwave-infrared-light-emitting probes for the in vivo tracking of cancer vaccines and the elicited immune responses

   (2023) Nature Biomedical Engineering, .

   https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85168575866&doi=10.1038%2fs41551-023-01083-5&partnerID=40&md5=3e86c08d4f81e1bae9df5ee1100a6843

2. Baghdasaryan, A., Wang, F., Ren, F., Ma, Z., Li, J., Zhou, X., Grigoryan, L., Xu, C., Dai, H.

   Phosphorylcholine-conjugated gold-molecular clusters improve signal for Lymph Node NIR-II fluorescence imaging in preclinical cancer models

   (2022) Nature Communications, 13 (1), art. no. 5613, . Cited 15 times.

   https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85138459264&doi=10.1038%2fs41467-022-33341-6&partnerID=40&md5=44ec2159c508997ed90675e486ed765e

3. Wang, F., Ren, F., Ma, Z., Qu, L., Gourgues, R., Xu, C., Baghdasaryan, A., Li, J., Zadeh, I.E., Los, J.W.N., Fognini, A., Qin-Dregely, J., Dai, H.

   In vivo non-invasive confocal fluorescence imaging beyond 1,700 nm using superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

   (2022) Nature Nanotechnology, 17 (6), pp. 653-660. Cited 42 times.

   https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85130705718&doi=10.1038%2fs41565-022-01130-3&partnerID=40&md5=7141744bf648eb723367fcbad7b66783

4. Wang, F., Qu, L., Ren, F., Baghdasaryan, A., Jiang, Y., Hsu, R., Liang, P., Li, J., Zhu, G., Ma, Z., Dai, H.

   High-precision tumor resection down to few-cell level guided by NIR-IIb molecular fluorescence imaging

   (2022) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119 (15), art. no. e2123111119, . Cited 18 times.

   https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85127695046&doi=10.1073%2fpnas.2123111119&partnerID=40&md5=99aeda2dc1039282c7dca9b70ed4268f

5. Zhu, G., Tian, X., Tai, H.-C., Li, Y.-Y., Li, J., Sun, H., Liang, P., Angell, M., Huang, C.-L., Ku, C.-S., Hung, W.-H., Jiang, S.-K., Meng, Y., Chen, H., Lin, M.-C., Hwang, B.-J., Dai, H.

   Rechargeable Na/Cl2 and Li/Cl2 batteries

   (2021) Nature, 596 (7873), pp. 525-530. Cited 62 times.

   https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85113358235&doi=10.1038%2fs41586-021-03757-z&partnerID=40&md5=4e524cad9802b61ce9cb351aa0f08de6

6. Wang, F., Ma, Z., Zhong, Y., Salazar, F., Xu, C., Ren, F., Qu, L., Wu, A.M., Dai, H.

   In vivo NIR-II structured-illumination light-sheet microscopy

   (2021) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118 (6), art. no. e2023888118, . Cited 34 times.

   https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85100570876&doi=10.1073%2fpnas.2023888118&partnerID=40&md5=fd1fa9ba8c8d70d186c5de75f6f4d7f6

7. Ma, Z., Wang, F., Wang, W., Zhong, Y., Dai, H.

   Deep learning for in vivo near-infrared imaging

   (2021) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118 (1), art. no. e2021446118, . Cited 44 times.

   https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85099116056&doi=10.1073%2fPNAS.2021446118&partnerID=40&md5=41bf9b8b5566b0942bb728cce60e48df

8. Zhong, Y., Ma, Z., Wang, F., Wang, X., Yang, Y., Liu, Y., Zhao, X., Li, J., Du, H., Zhang, M., Cui, Q., Zhu, S., Sun, Q., Wan, H., Tian, Y., Liu, Q., Wang, W., Garcia, K.C., Dai, H.

   In vivo molecular imaging for immunotherapy using ultra-bright near-infrared-IIb rare-earth nanoparticles

   (2019) Nature Biotechnology, 37 (11), pp. 1322-1331. Cited 312 times.

   https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85073967379&doi=10.1038%2fs41587-019-0262-4&partnerID=40&md5=f9954ec12c93dc846f3927a60978661a

9. Zhu, S., Tian, R., Antaris, A.L., Chen, X., Dai, H.

   Near-Infrared-II Molecular Dyes for Cancer Imaging and Surgery

   (2019) Advanced Materials, 31 (24), art. no. 1900321, . Cited 529 times.

   https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85065045437&doi=10.1002%2fadma.201900321&partnerID=40&md5=e9e2e495ac6d1240352aed81d75fb892

10. Wang, F., Wan, H., Ma, Z., Zhong, Y., Sun, Q., Tian, Y., Qu, L., Du, H., Zhang, M., Li, L., Ma, H., Luo, J., Liang, Y., Li, W.J., Hong, G., Liu, L., Dai, H.

    Light-sheet microscopy in the near-infrared II window

    (2019) Nature Methods, 16 (6), pp. 545-552. Cited 123 times.

    https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85065791421&doi=10.1038%2fs41592-019-0398-7&partnerID=40&md5=b72f7d9cd538121e106c12362b56d8d5

11. Hong, G., Antaris, A.L., Dai, H.

    Near-infrared fluorophores for biomedical imaging

    (2017) Nature Biomedical Engineering, 1 (1), art. no. 0010, . Cited 1689 times.

    https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85029866713&doi=10.1038%2fs41551-016-0010&partnerID=40&md5=9a57087b169c8c318e11a9c0492b4ac9

12. Antaris, A.L., Chen, H., Cheng, K., Sun, Y., Hong, G., Qu, C., Diao, S., Deng, Z., Hu, X., Zhang, B., Zhang, X., Yaghi, O.K., Alamparambil, Z.R., Hong, X., Cheng, Z., Dai, H.

    A small-molecule dye for NIR-II imaging

    (2016) Nature Materials, 15 (2), pp. 235-242. Cited 1138 times.

    https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84955746433&doi=10.1038%2fnmat4476&partnerID=40&md5=a176967a99140ed2495bed6e531e8dc7

13. Hong, G., Diao, S., Antaris, A.L., Dai, H.

    Carbon Nanomaterials for Biological Imaging and Nanomedicinal Therapy

    (2015) Chemical Reviews, 115 (19), pp. 10816-10906. Cited 1041 times.

    https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84942638147&doi=10.1021%2facs.chemrev.5b00008&partnerID=40&md5=8e4899b141c2a77a89466fc9fd05e502

14. Hong, G., Diao, S., Chang, J., Antaris, A.L., Chen, C., Zhang, B., Zhao, S., Atochin, D.N., Huang, P.L., Andreasson, K.I., Kuo, C.J., Dai, H.

    Through-skull fluorescence imaging of the brain in a new near-infrared window

    (2014) Nature Photonics, 8 (9), pp. 723-730. Cited 713 times.

    https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84906889401&doi=10.1038%2fnphoton.2014.166&partnerID=40&md5=471934eca5b1081fc5fdcc38c5b738c2

15. Hong, G., Lee, J.C., Robinson, J.T., Raaz, U., Xie, L., Huang, N.F., Cooke, J.P., Dai, H.

    Multifunctional in vivo vascular imaging using near-infrared II fluorescence

    (2012) Nature Medicine, 18 (12), pp. 1841-1846. Cited 749 times.

    https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84870955323&doi=10.1038%2fnm.2995&partnerID=40&md5=e00b15ee60c79638a0a69901aad87165

16. Liu, Z., Fan, A.C., Rakhra, K., Sherlock, S., Goodwin, A., Chen, X., Yang, Q., Felsher, D.W., Dai, H.

    Supramolecular stacking of doxorubicin on carbon nanotubes for in vivo cancer therapy

    (2009) Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 48 (41), pp. 7668-7672. Cited 464 times.

    https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-70349992194&doi=10.1002%2fanie.200902612&partnerID=40&md5=20879ebd5b30f737aa51ee232301088f

17. Welsher, K., Liu, Z., Sherlock, S.P., Robinson, J.T., Chen, Z., Daranciang, D., Dai, H.

    A route to brightly fluorescent carbon nanotubes for near-infrared imaging in mice

    (2009) Nature Nanotechnology, 4 (11), pp. 773-780. Cited 971 times.

    https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-70449574483&doi=10.1038%2fnnano.2009.294&partnerID=40&md5=27a243c7fddd317d886495f089271715

• https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/949061
• https://news.stanford.edu/2019/10/03/infrared-vision-immunotherapy/
• https://physicsworld.com/a/deep-learning-sharpens-near-infrared-images-for-cancer-diagnostics/
• https://dailyfreepress.com/2017/09/28/research-on-fluorescent-imaging-aluminum-batteries-motivate-bu-students/
• https://cen.acs.org/analytical-chemistry/imaging/Chemistry-Pictures-Seeing-inside-living/97/web/2019/11
• https://phys.org/news/2012-12-technique-visualizing-blood-involves-carbon.html
• https://www.photonics.com/Articles/NIR_Imaging_Gets_Big_Boost/a52459
• https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2016/01/05/a-dye-to-try-new-compound-provides-improved-imaging-safety/
• https://news.stanford.edu/2021/08/25/researchers-make-alkali-metal-chlorine-batteries-rechargeable/

• Nano Research Award, 2022
• Citation Laureate by the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate, 2020
• Member of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM), 2019
• Foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), 2019
• NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, 2017
• Member of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 2016
• Materials Research Society (MRS) Mid-Career Researcher Award, 2016
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, 2010
• Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2009
• American Physical Society James McGroddy Prize for New Materials, 2006
• Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics, 2004
• Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, 2002
• American Chemical Society Pure Chemistry Award, 2002
• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, 2001
• Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, 1999
• Terman Fellowship, Stanford University, 1998
• Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, 1997

• https://patents.justia.com/inventor/hongjie-dai

• Nano Research, Nano Lett., Advanced Materials, Small, Nanotechnology, Advanced Functional Materials, Chemical Physics Letter, Applied Physics A.