Introduction

Biographical Information

Vincent Mukwaya hails from the Peal of Africa, Uganda. He graduated from Donghua University (China) in 2016 with a MSc in Textile Science and Engineering. He received his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2020. During which, he collaborated with the renowned Prof. Stephen Mann FRS of the Centre for Protolife Research of the University of Bristol to develop a new type of polysaccharide-based microcapsule dubbed the “Polysaccharidosome”. He is now serving as a post-doctoral fellow at SMSE in Prof. Hongjing Dou’s team.

Research Interests

He specializes in the chemical synthesis, characterization and co-assembly of biomacromolecules/synthetic polymers into micro-sized compartments for the utilization as protocell models and microreactors. Vincent is currently in the quest for frontier applications of polysaccharide-based nano/micro assemblages such as cancer vaccination, drug delivery and diagnosis. He finds polymer synthesis fascinating and dedicates time to the synthesis of functionalized smart polymers via RAFT polymerization.

Selected Publications

[1] Vincent Mukwaya; Peipei Zhang; Heze Guo; Auphedeous Yinme Dang-I; Qiangqiang Hu; Mei Li; Stephen Mann; Hongjing Dou^*; Lectin-Glycan-Mediated Nanoparticle Docking as a Step toward Programmable Membrane Catalysis and Adhesion in Synthetic Protocells, ACS Nano, 2020, 14(7): 7899-7910.

[2] Vincent Mukwaya; Peipei Zhang; Liu Lingshan; Auphedeous Yinme Dang-I; Mei Li; Stephen Mann; Hongjing Dou^*; Programmable Membrane-Mediated Attachment of Synthetic Virus-like Nanoparticles on Artificial Protocells for Enhanced Immunogenicity, Cell Reports Physical Science, 2021, 2(1): 100291.

[3] Vincent Mukwaya; Chenglong Wang; Hongjing Dou^*; Saccharide-Based Nanocarriers for Targeted Therapeutic and Diagnostic Applications, Polymer International, 2019, 68(3): 306-319.

Research Projects

Vincent is currently coordinating projects on the biomedical applications of polysaccharidosomes in the areas of cancer vaccination, drug delivery and diagnosis.

Honors & Awards

1. 2016-09 to 2020-09：Shanghai government Scholarship (SGS) To pursue a fully funded Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University for 4 years

2. 2013-09 to 2016-03：Shanghai government Scholarship (SGS) To pursue a fully funded Master’s degree in Textile Science and Technology at Donghua University for 2. 5 years.

3. 2020-06: Recognized for my high impact publication in ACS Nano as an Outstanding researcher award in the Hongjing Dou group at School of Materials Science and Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University

4. 2018-09: Won first prize in the Biomaterials category of a poster competition at the 2nd International Conference of Molecular Engineering of Polymers (MEP-2) organized by Fudan University, Shanghai, China.