Yunyan Sun, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry, will present his research at the Beckman Institute Graduate Student Seminar on Wednesday, Feb. 1.

The hybrid seminar will take place in 1005 Beckman and on Zoom. Lunch will be provided to in-person attendees. 

Register in advance to attend.

Ultrasound-controlled mechanophore activation for targeted therapy

In polymer mechanochemistry, mechanical force is transduced via polymer backbone to selectively activate stress-sensitive molecules termed mechanophores with productive chemical transformations. More than 100 mechanophores have been reported so far with various functions including but not limited to color change, latent catalyst activation, self-strengthening, small molecule release, and chemiluminescence. Mechanophores that release small molecules are particularly attractive for on-demand delivery systems, as ultrasound with deep penetration can be employed to apply mechanical force to achieve mechanochemical transformations noninvasively with precise spatial and temporal control. In this talk, I will introduce our recent progress on the development of novel small molecule releasing mechanophores as well as our efforts on evaluating their therapeutic applications in biological systems using high-intensity focused ultrasound.

Yunyan Sun is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry working with Professor Jeff Moore. His research mainly focuses on the molecular design, mechanistic study, and biomedical applications of small molecule releasing mechanophores. Yunyan received the Beckman Institute Graduate Fellowship in 2022. He received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Shanghai Tech University in 2019. Outside the lab, Yunyan enjoys making bread, working out, and reading.

Learn more about Beckman's Graduate Student Seminar Series.

Read Q&As with student researchers on Beckman's Student Researcher Spotlight page.