Dr. Nan Xu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology. She obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2019. From 2019 to 2023, she worked as an attending physician at the Union Hospital, affiliated with Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, where she was involved in clinical, research, and teaching activities. In 2023, she began postdoctoral research in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology. Her research mainly focuses on the mechanistic study of macrophage-targeted functional regulation and biomechanical-cellular functional regulation in chronic diseases. She has a strong foundation in the interdisciplinary fields of medicine, engineering, and materials science and is dedicated to the clinical translation of biomedical research. She has served as the principal investigator for a National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Youth Project and has participated as a key member in several major research projects, including the Ministry of Science and Technology's key R&D program, the NSFC General Program, the Shenzhen Municipal Natural Science Foundation General Program, and the Shenzhen Medical Key Special Project.

Educational Background
September 2014 - June 2019, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Tongji Medical College, Union Hospital, Dermatology and Venereology, Doctor of Medicine
September 2009 - June 2014, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Clinical Medicine, Bachelor of Medicine

Work Experience
June 2025 - Present, Southern University of Science and Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Assistant Professor
May 2023 - May 2025, Southern University of Science and Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Postdoctoral Researcher
July 2019 - April 2023, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Attending Physician

Research Interests

1. Macrophage phenotype and functional regulation, and its application in the treatment of chronic diseases

2. Cellular functional regulation under mechanical load

3. Clinical translation of polymer-based drugs

Funded Projects

1. National Natural Science Foundation of China, Youth Science Fund Project, "Study on the Multifunctional Oxygen-Carrying Nanobubbles Targeting Reprogramming Tumor-Associated Macrophages to Regulate Tumor Microenvironment," 82001849, January 2021 - December 2023, ¥240,000, Completed, Principal Investigator

2. Ministry of Science and Technology, National Key R&D Program, "Drug Controlled Release and Tissue Regeneration Devices Based on Flexible Electronic Materials," 2022YFB3804700, November 2022 - October 2025, ¥13.56 million, Ongoing, Participant

3. National Natural Science Foundation of China, General Program, "Study on Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Right Ventricular Function Ultrasound Assessment and Risk Prediction Based on Dual-Flow Neural Network," 82371991, January 2024 - December 2027, ¥500,000, Ongoing, Participant

4. National Natural Science Foundation of China, General Program, "Study on the Role and Mechanism of Monocyte-Derived Immune Tolerant IL-35+PD-L1+ Langerhans Cells in Promoting the Formation of Early Inhibitory Microenvironment in Melanoma," 81874135, January 2019 - December 2022, ¥570,000, Completed, Participant

5. National Natural Science Foundation of China, General Program, "Study on the Role and Mechanism of Hypoxic Microenvironment in Draining Lymph Nodes of Metastatic Melanoma Inducing PD-L1 Positive Macrophages," 81772913, January 2018 - December 2021, ¥520,000, Completed, Participant

Representative Publications

1． Pan Y, Zhang Y, Lin J, Liu Z, Li Z, Luo Z*, Xu N*. Simulating Arterial Stress for Rapid Evaluation of Antivascular Calcification Therapies from Herbal Extracts. ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2025, 10; 11(2): 1212-1221.

2． Hu Y#, Tang H#, Xu N*, Kang X, Wu W, Shen C, Lin J, Bao Y, Jiang X*, Luo Z*. Adhesive, Flexible, and Fast Degradable 3D-Printed Wound Dressings with a Simple Composition. Adv Healthc Mater. 2024, 13(3): e2302063.

3． Xu N#, Li J#, Gao Y#, Zhou N, Ma Q, Wu M, Zhang Y, Sun X, Xie J, Shen G, Yang M, Tu Q, Xu X, Zhu J, Tao J. Apoptotic cell-mimicking gold nanocages loaded with LXR agonist for attenuating the progression of murine systemic lupus erythematosus. Biomaterials. 2019, 197: 380-392.、

4． Dong L#, Li Y#, Li Z, Xu N, Liu P, Du H, Zhang Y, Huang Y, Zhu J, Ren G, Xie J, Wang K, Zhou Y, Shen C, Zhu J*, Tao J*. Au nanocage-strengthened dissolving microneedles for chemo-photothermal combined therapy of superficial skin tumors. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2018, 10, 9247-9256.

5． Liu Q#, Xu N#, Liu L, Li J, Zhang Y, Shen C, Shezad K, Zhang L, Zhu J, Tao J. Dacarbazine-Loaded Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Grafted with Folic Acid for Enhancing Antimetastatic Melanoma Response. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017, 5; 9(26): 21673-21687.

6． Xu J#, Li J#, Yang Y, Wang K, Xu N, Li J, Liang R, Shen L, Xie X, Tao J*, Zhu J*. Block copolymer capsules with structure-dependent release behavior. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016, 55, 14633-14637.

Patent

1． Jintao Zhu, Liping Liu, Juan Tao, Kui Wang, Yuce Li, A pH-Responsive Antitumor Drug Delivery System and Its Preparation and Application 2017-5-8, ZL201710315513.5