Dr. Shoupeng Cao obtained his Ph.D. in 2020 at the Eindhoven University of Technology under the guidance of Prof. Jan C. M. van Hest, funded by European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation program Marie Sklodowska Curie Innovative Training Networks Nanomed. His thesis focused on the engineering of well-defined biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles for tailored biomedical applications. Since December 2020, he has been working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in the group of Prof. Katharina Landfester. Shoupeng was awarded the Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship in May 2022 to support his independent research, where he engineers biomimetic microcompartments with adaptive and cell-like features. From May 2024, he holds professorship and is a principal investigator in the department of polymer science and engineering at Sichuan University in China where his lab research focuses on the design, synthesis and engineering of biomimetic functional materials with health and medical applications.

Biomimicry assemblies including but not limited to polymersomes, nanomotors, coacervates via liquid-liquid phase separation, nanomedicine.

1. S. Cao, T. Ivanov, J. Heure, K. Fugenson, K. Landfester, L. Caire da Silva. Dipeptide coacervates as artificial membraneless organelles for bioorthogonal catalysis, Nat. Commun.,2024,15, 39

2. S. Cao, L. Caire da Silva, K. Landfester. Light‐Activated Membrane Transport in Polymeric Cell‐Mimics, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2022, 61 (34), e202205266

3. S. Cao, H. Wu, I. A. B. Pijpers, J. Shao, L. K. E. A. Abdelmohsen, D. S. Williams, J. C. M. van Hest. Cucurbit-like polymersomes with aggregation-induced emission properties show enzyme-mediated motility, ACS Nano2021, 15, 11, 18270–18278

4. S. Cao^#, J. Shao^#, H. Wu, S. Song, M. T. De Martino, I. A. B. Pijpers, H. Friedrich, L. K. E. A. Abdelmohsen, D. S. Williams, J. C. M. van Hest. Photoactivated nanomotors via aggregation induced emission for enhanced phototherapy, Nat. Commun.2021,12, 2077. (#equal contribution)

5. S. Cao^#, Y. Xia^#, J. Shao, B. Guo, Y. Dong, I. A. B. Pijpers, Z. Zhong, F. Meng, L. K. E. A. Abdelmohsen, D. S. Williams, J. C. M. van Hest. Biodegradable polymersomes with structure inherent fluorescence and targeting capacity for enhanced photo‐dynamic therapy, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2021,60, 17629-17637(#equal contribution)

6. J. Shao^#, S. Cao^#, D. S. Williams, L. K. E. A. Abdelmohsen, and J. C. M. van Hest. Photoactivated polymersome nanomotors: traversing biological barriers, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 16918–16925. (# equal contribution)

7. S. Chen, J. Wang, S. Cao*, S. H. Al-Hilfi, J. Yang, J. Shao, J. C.M. van Hest, M. Bonn, K. Mullen, * and Y. Zhou* Cell Rep. Phys. Sci.2024,5,101898 (corresponding author)

1. Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad, 2024

2. ACS journal Biomacromolecules Early Career Board, 2023

3. Young scholar in 71st Nobel Laureate Meeting, 2022

5. Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers, 2022

6. Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN Fellowship for PhD students, 2016

7. Outstanding graduate student at Northwest A&F University, 2016

8. Outstanding graduate thesis at Northwest A&F University, 2016