Distinguished Professor and Vice-Dean
Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China
Associate Editor, Molecular Therapy

Group Website: wanglab.ustc.edu.cn 

Yucai Wang, Ph.D. is a Professor at the Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and Vice President of Hefei RNAlfa Biotech Co., Ltd. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from USTC in 2005 and 2010, respectively, and pursued postdoctoral training in biomedical engineering and chemistry at Washington University at Saint Louis, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Chicago. In 2015, he returned to USTC as a faculty member through the “Young Thousand Talents Plan” and was later awarded the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2020.

His research focuses on nanomedicine, biomaterials, and mRNA therapeutics, with an emphasis on understanding and overcoming in vivo delivery barriers. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in top journals including Science, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Materials, and Nature Biomedical Engineering. In addition to his academic contributions, Dr. Wang has actively promoted the clinical translation of mRNA technologies through RNAlfa Biotech, which has obtained multiple IND approvals for mRNA vaccines and therapeutics.

Representative Publications

1. Q. Wang, Z. Q. Chen, G. R. Zhang, J. L. Yang, R. F. Hu, T. Y. Yao, C. C. Zeng, S. G. Zhang, W. Jiang, S. Zhu, Y. C. Wang, Commensal-driven serotonin production modulates in vivo delivery of synthetic and viral vectors, Science 2026, 391, eadu7686.

2. W. Jiang, Z. Guo, Q. Wang, Z. Chen, W. Dong, Q. Liang, W. Hao, H. Pan, C. Zeng, H. Liu, Y. C. Wang, Enhanced nanoparticle delivery across vascular basement membranes of tumours using nitric oxide, Nature Biomedical Engineering 2025, 9, 1486–1501.

3. Q. Wang, C. C. Zeng, Z. Q. Chen, L. Hu, J. X. Dou, C. K. Ye, L. B. Zhu, Q. R. Liang, H. M. Pan, W. Jiang, Y. C. Wang, Nanoparticles reach metastatic tumours via enhanced permeability of adjacent vessels, Nature Nanotechnology 2026, 21, 880–891.

4. W. Jiang, Z. Guo, Q. Wang, Z. Chen, W. Dong, Q. Liang, W. Hao, H. Pan, C. Zeng, H. Liu, W. Jiang, Y. C. Wang, Breaking through the basement membrane barrier to improve nanotherapeutic delivery to tumors, Nature Nanotechnology 2024, 19, 95–105.

5. Y. Liu, Q. Liu, B. Zhang, S. Chen, Y. Shen, Z. Li, J. Zhang, Y. Yang, M. Li, Y. C. Wang, Generation of tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells in vivo via the delivery of mRNA encoding PD-L1 within lipid nanoparticles, Nature Biomedical Engineering 2025, 9, 1320–1334.