معرفی
Shuhua Bai, Ph.D., is Professor of Pharmaceutics in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Administrative Sciences at Western New England University (WNE). His work integrates pharmaceutical nanotechnology with biotechnology to design next-generation drug-delivery systems that overcome absorption, stability, and targeting challenges.
Education
- Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences – Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
- M.S. in Medicinal Chemistry – Shenyang Pharmaceutical University
- B.S. in Chemical Pharmaceutics – Shenyang Pharmaceutical University
Research Focus
Dr. Bai’s laboratory exploits both synthetic and natural nanoplatforms—liposomes, polymeric micelles, and exosomes—to achieve precise spatiotemporal delivery of small molecules, proteins, siRNA, mRNA, and CRISPR/Cas9 systems. Key emphases include:
- Non-viral gene-delivery carriers for enhanced encapsulation efficiency and reduced immunogenicity
- Exosome isolation, bioengineering, and targeting for inflammatory-disease and cancer therapy
- AI/ML-driven formulation optimization using design-of-experiment (DoE) strategies
- In-vitro–in-vivo correlation (IVIVC) and PK/PD evaluation of nanoformulations
Grant Portfolio & Funding Trajectory
Active support spans federal agencies (USDA/NIFA and NIH/NIBIB) and private foundations (AACP, Maine Cancer Foundation). Current awards total > $1 M and focus on broccoli-sprout-derived exosomes for inflammatory-bowel-disease therapy and cell-homing exosomes to reverse multidrug resistance in brain tumors.
Scientific Recognition
- American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) New Investigator Award
- Meritorious Manuscript Award, Pharmaceutical Research
- Maine IDe Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Fellowship
- Multiple Maine Cancer Foundation Pilot Research Grants
Teaching & Mentorship
Dr. Bai teaches core Pharm.D. courses (Pharmaceutics, Advanced Drug-Delivery Systems, Compounding Laboratory, Drug Development & Approval, Analytical Techniques) and has mentored > 20 graduate and undergraduate researchers whose names appear as co-authors on peer-reviewed papers.
Laboratory & Collaborative Networks
The Bai Research Group operates within the university’s Center for Sciences & Pharmacy, collaborating across disciplines with investigators in biomedical engineering, cancer biology, and computational sciences. Ongoing partnerships include zebrafish-based in vivo screening cores and external NIH-funded consortia.
