The Tianjin Key Laboratory of Life and Health Detection, in line with the national strategy of “Prioritizing the Health and Well-being of the People,” addresses the growing demand for precision, intelligence, and personalization in the field of life and health testing. The laboratory conducts research on new testing methods and technologies, the development and application of testing chips, and the systematic study of targeted drug delivery systems. It promotes original innovation in life and health testing technologies, proposes new concepts, principles, and and new methods for complex biological fluid systems, and to establish an autonomous and controllable life and health testing technology system. The laboratory aims to become a hub for life and health testing technological innovation characterized by multidisciplinary integration and full-chain R&D capabilities, thereby fostering sustainable innovation capacity.
Established under Tianjin University of Technology, the laboratory integrates multidisciplinary strengths in chemistry, materials science, pharmacy, and biomedicine. It focuses on key tasks such as trace biomarker analysis, biochip R&D, and portable POCT devices to drive breakthroughs in early disease screening and targeted therapy technologies. Since its establishment, the laboratory has achieved numerous original breakthroughs in exhaled breath analysis, nano-self-assembled sensing, microfluidic chips, and intelligent targeted drug delivery. These technologies have been applied in critical medical scenarios such as lung cancer screening, inflammatory bowel disease treatment, and rapid pathogen detection, thereby supporting public health prevention and control, enhancing primary healthcare capabilities, and fostering the development of the health industry.
In recent years, the laboratory has undertaken a total of 36 national, provincial/ministerial, and industry-sponsored research projects, with total funding nearing 30 million yuan. These include 16 national-level projects, covering the National Key Research and Development Program, Key Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, General Projects, and Youth Fund Projects; 10 provincial/ministerial-level projects, covering Tianjin Municipal Key Projects, General Projects, and Youth Projects; and 8 industry-sponsored collaboration and technology transfer projects, with a total contract value of 11.37 million yuan. In terms of research output, the laboratory has published over 70 SCI-indexed papers, with more than 30 appearing in top-tier journals in the first tier of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) ranking, such as Nature Communications, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Chem, Science Advances, and Advanced Materials. It has filed over 30 patent applications, with 5 already granted. Significant achievements have been made in technology transfer. Focusing on portable detection devices such as nucleic acid rapid test strips, medical ion mobility spectrometry, breath-based disease detection sensors, and whole-blood potassium ion sensors, the laboratory has successfully completed the transfer of seven key technologies, facilitating the implementation of multiple industry-academia-research collaborations.
This laboratory has assembled a high-caliber research team, currently comprising 35 permanent members, including 10 researchers with senior professional titles. The team boasts a notably favorable age structure, with young researchers under the age of 45 accounting for over 90% of the total, demonstrating vibrant innovative energy. Led by Professor Wang Tie, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, the laboratory has been carefully structured to form a research team with a well-defined hierarchical structure, interdisciplinary backgrounds, and outstanding innovative capabilities, providing strong talent support for the laboratory’s sustainable development.
The laboratory actively engages in academic exchanges both domestically and internationally. It has invited more than 10 renowned scholars from universities in the United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and other regions to visit and exchange ideas, and has hosted numerous high-level academic seminars to enhance the laboratory’s international influence in the field of life and health testing.
The laboratory emphasizes collaborative innovation among industry, academia, and research institutions, and has successfully facilitated the commercialization of several technologies, including the “African Swine Fever Nucleic Acid Test Strip Rapid Detection Project,” the “Portable Lung Cancer Exhaled Breath Detector,” and “Double-Layer Hydrogel Microspheres Encapsulating Organoids.”In collaboration with companies such as Shance (Tianjin) Technology Development Co., Ltd., Beijing Yisheng Technology Co., Ltd., to advance the application of products such as diagnostic chips, targeted drugs, and smart electronic noses in the healthcare sector. Some of these technologies have already entered the clinical validation and industrialization phases.
The laboratory will fully leverage Tianjin University of Technology’s disciplinary strengths in fields such as nanomaterials, biosensing, and microfluidic chips to establish a comprehensive innovation system spanning “basic research—technology development-clinical translation.”It aims to create a research and development platform for life and health diagnostics with international influence, thereby providing scientific and technological support for improving the health of the entire population and promoting the high-quality development of China’s life and health industry.
Research Areas of the Key Laboratory:
I. Research on New Detection Methods and Technologies
To address the challenge of accurately identifying target analytes in complex biological fluid systems, this research area focuses on the screening of disease biomarkers and the investigation of their mechanisms of action in specific biological fluid systems; the analysis and optimization of key factors affecting the analytical performance of biological fluid systems; and the preparation and study of recognition mechanisms for key molecular recognition materials. The goal is to develop new technologies and methods for disease diagnosis and analytical testing that are highly sensitive, stable, and selective.
II. Development and Application of Detection Chips
In detection chips designed for biofluidic systems, the structure-property relationship between the internal micro- and nanostructures and the fluid dynamics of the system is critical for achieving highly stable and sensitive biomarker detection. Therefore, elucidating the relationship between material interface micro- and nanostructures and fluid dynamics, understanding the kinetic mechanisms that influence the interaction between target molecules and material interfaces, and developing micro- and nanostructures for efficient detection are expected to enhance the performance of these devices. This research direction will employ nano-self-assembly technology, utilizing various sensitive materials as a foundation, to design arrays of target-molecule-sensitive units primarily based on electrochemical and spectroscopic analysis. The goal is to develop structurally enhanced sensing chips capable of highly sensitive detection of multiple disease biomarkers, thereby enabling accurate disease screening and diagnosis.
III. Targeted Drug Delivery Systems
The development of novel intelligent targeted delivery systems, which enhance drug selectivity for target sites and enable selective drug release in vivo, will yield highly effective targeted therapeutic outcomes. This is of great significance for improving drug efficacy, reducing adverse drug reactions, and ensuring medication safety. At the same time, research and development of novel targeted formulations will play a crucial role in advancing the clinical translation of targeted delivery systems and the development of related disciplines such as pharmaceutics.
