Minglin Ma

About

Professor Minglin Ma received his B.S. degree from Tsinghua University in 2003 and his Ph.D. from the laboratory of Professor Gregory Rutledge at MIT in 2008, both in Chemical Engineering. After completing his Ph.D., he worked at the General Electric Global Research Center before returning to MIT in 2009 for postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Professors Robert Langer and Daniel Anderson. In 2013, he joined the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University as a faculty member. Professor Ma's research focuses on advancing cell replacement therapies for type 1 diabetes and the translation of biomaterial research. His contributions to the field have been recognized by his induction into the 2023 College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for outstanding contributions in these areas. Additionally, he received a Hartwell Foundation Individual Biomedical Research Award in 2016, highlighting his impactful work in biomedical research.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Nanotechnology
• Materials science
• Biomedical engineering
• Endocrinology
• Computer Science
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Composite material
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• An Adhesive Hydrogel with “Load‐Sharing” Effect as Tissue Bandages for Drug and Cell Delivery

  Advanced Materials · 2020 · 207 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Hydrogels with adhesive properties have potential for numerous biomedical applications. Here, the design of a novel, intrinsically adhesive hydrogel and its use in developing internal therapeutic bandages is reported. The design involves incorporation of "triple hydrogen bonding clusters" (THBCs) as side groups into the hydrogel matrix. The THBC through a unique "load sharing" effect and an increase in bond density results in strong adhesions of the hydrogel to a range of surfaces, including gla…

  DOI

• Hydrogels in Emerging Technologies for Type 1 Diabetes

  Chemical Reviews · 2020 · 148 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Type 1 diabetes therapies that afford tighter glycemic control in a more manageable and painless manner for patients has remained a central focus of next-generation diabetes therapies. In many of these emerging technologies, namely, self-regulated insulin delivery and cell replacement therapies, hydrogels are employed to mitigate some of the most long-standing challenges. In this Review, we summarize recent developments in the use of hydrogels for both insulin delivery and insulin-producing cell…

  DOI

• A nanofibrous encapsulation device for safe delivery of insulin-producing cells to treat type 1 diabetes

  Science Translational Medicine · 2021 · 120 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Transplantation of stem cell-derived β (SC-β) cells represents a promising therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, the delivery, maintenance, and retrieval of these cells remain a challenge. Here, we report the design of a safe and functional device composed of a highly porous, durable nanofibrous skin and an immunoprotective hydrogel core. The device consists of electrospun medical-grade thermoplastic silicone-polycarbonate-urethane and is soft but tough (~15 megapascal at a rupture strain…

  DOI

• A bioinspired scaffold for rapid oxygenation of cell encapsulation systems

  Nature Communications · 2021 · 80 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  transport through the whole system to cells several millimeters away from the device-host boundary. A computational model, validated by in vitro analysis, predicts that cells and islets maintain high viability even in a thick (6.6 mm) device. Finally, the therapeutic potential of the device is demonstrated through the correction of diabetes in immunocompetent mice using rat islets for over 6 months.

  DOI

• Harnessing cellular therapeutics for type 1 diabetes mellitus: progress, challenges, and the road ahead

  Nature Reviews Endocrinology · 2024-09-03 · 71 citations

  reviewOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Organogenesis in microcapsules: developing an efficient and scalable organoid culture platform

  NIH · $72k · 2015–2018

• Vascular networks genetically engineered for protein drug delivery

  NIH · $4.8M · 2015–2026

• Organogenesis in microcapsules: developing an efficient and scalable organoid culture platform

  NIH · $72k · 2015–2017

Frequent coauthors

• Daniel G. Anderson

  Boston Children's Hospital

  76 shared

• Róbert Langer

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  50 shared

• Arturo J. Vegas

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  37 shared

• Alan Chiu

  Cornell University

  37 shared

• Joshua C. Doloff

  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  32 shared

• Juan M. Melero‐Martin

  Boston Children's Hospital

  27 shared

• Gregory C. Rutledge

  27 shared

• Long‐Hai Wang

  University of Science and Technology of China

  25 shared

Labs

• The Biomaterials and Cell Therapy LaboratoryPI

Education

• B.S., Chemical Engineering

  Tsinghua University

• Ph.D., Chemical Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Similar researchers at Cornell University

• Tammo Steenhuish-89
• Peter Hessh-65
• Ashim Dattah-59