Ruirui Qiao

Dr Ruirui Qiao is a Group Leader and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland. She received her BSc (2005) and MSc (2007) in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Peking University and completed her PhD in Physical Chemistry at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2014. Prior to joining UQ, she held academic appointments at CAS (Assistant Professor 2009–2015, Tenured Associate Professor 2016–2017) and served as a Project Co-Leader at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology (CBNS), Monash University.

At AIBN, Dr Qiao leads a multidisciplinary research program that integrates nanotechnology, polymer science, and advanced manufacturing to create functional nanohybrids, 3D/4D printed smart biomaterials, and bioinspired soft robotics for biomedical applications. A key area of her work involves microfluidic droplet-based platforms for the scalable fabrication of microgels, droplet-engineered organoids, and cell-laden constructs, enabling more physiologically relevant models for disease research and therapeutic testing. Her contributions have advanced the design of next-generation materials and devices with controllable architecture, responsiveness, and translational potential.

Dr Qiao has made substantial contributions across both materials science and biomedical engineering, particularly in the development of organic/inorganic nanocomosites for nanomedicine and 3D/4D printing soft materials. Her work also extends to impactful bioapplications, including molecular imaging and targeted drug delivery. She has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles in leading international journals such as Science, Nature Communications, ACS Nano, Chemistry of Materials, Advanced Materials, and Polymer Chemistry, accumulating more than 8,300 citations (H-index = 49).

Her current research focuses on the design and fabrication of advanced polymer/inorganic hybrid materials, leveraging state-of-the-art techniques including nanoparticle synthesis, polymer chemistry, PET-RAFT polymerisation, and 3D/4D printing technologies. Her group applies these materials in a wide range of biomedical applications, such as disease diagnosis, drug and gene delivery, tissue engineering, antibacterial coatings, and soft robotics. Dr Qiao's excellence has been recognised through prestigious awards, including an NHMRC Investigator Grant (2020) and the UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award (2021).

She is currently serving in Editorial Board and Associate Editor of Science Advances (AAAS), Journal of Nanobiotechnology (BMC, Part of Spring Nature), Topic Editor of ACS Polymer Science&Technology and Guest Editors of Biosensors and Frontier in Pharmacology.

Dr Qiao is looking for highly motivated Ph.D. students, and highly competitive full scholarship can be provided. The University of Queensland ranks in the top 50 as measured by the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities. The University also ranks 45 in the QS World University Rankings, 52 in the US News Best Global Universities Rankings, 60 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and 55 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities.