Selected Projects
Coagulation Bath-Assisted 3D Printing of PEDOT:PSS with High Resolution and Strong Substrate Adhesion for Bioelectronic Devices
This collaborative project focused on developing a new 3D-printable conductive polymer formulation (PEDOT:PSS) aimed at advancing wearable and bioelectronic device research. Together, our team designed a material with enhanced resolution and strong substrate adhesion, enabling reliable long-term neural interfaces. Through joint efforts across universities, we successfully implemented the device in a mouse model, achieving stable brain activity monitoring over three months.
Reference
Pokorski, J. K., & Zheng, Y. (2025). U.S. Patent Application No. 18/832,737.
“Coagulation Bath-Assisted 3D printing of PEDOT:PSS with high resolution and strong substrate adhesion for bioelectronic devices.” Pacifichem, Poster Session, 2021, In virtual
Bioadhesive Memory Film
I joined SanaHeal right after its Pre-A fundraising round and led the formulation design and process development of the company’s bioadhesive material in its patch/filament formats. Working with the team, I developed key characterization methods for quality control and product consistency. Through this experience, I gained first-hand insight into the growth of a university spin-off transitioning into a medical device company from seed round to Post-A series, including exposure to FDA regulatory processes, product development strategies, and various exit pathways.
Reference
Hyunwoo Yuk, Yi Zheng. “STAIN-MEMORIZED FILM AND METHOD OF MAKING” Provisional Patent No. 63/876,246, 2025
Hyunwoo Yuk, Guangyu Bao, Evan D’Agostino, Yi Zheng. “DRY BIOADHESIVE” Provisinal Patent No. 63/876,192, 2025
Using Hot Melt Extrusion to manufacture sustained protein delivery Device
Hot melt extrusion (HME) is a high-throughput manufacturing method for fabricating drug-loaded sustained-release products and has recently gained attention for its potential in protein-based therapeutics. Our team collaborated on utilizing PLGA as a substrate material to deliver cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), a plant virus nanoparticle, for in situ vaccination applications. To preserve the structural stability of CPMV during HME processing, we employed lyophilization as a stabilization strategy — and in the process, we serendipitously discovered a protocol for generating genome-free virus particles, opening new possibilities for safe and tunable vaccine design.
Reference
Zheng, Y., Lee, P. W., Wang, C., Thomas, L. D., Stewart, P. L., Steinmetz, N. F., & Pokorski, J. K. (2019). Freeze-drying to produce efficacious CPMV virus-like particles. Nano letters, 19(3), 2099-2105.
Zheng, Y., Wang, C., Wirth, D., Steinmetz, N., & Pokorski, J. (2019, August). Processing methods for protein-polymer composites. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY (Vol. 258). 1155 16TH ST, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036 USA: AMER CHEMICAL SOC.
Ortega-Rivera, Oscar A., Sourabh Shukla, Matthew D. Shin, Angela Chen, Veronique Beiss, Miguel A. Moreno-Gonzalez, Yi Zheng et al. "Cowpea mosaic virus nanoparticle vaccine candidates displaying peptide epitopes can neutralize the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus." ACS infectious diseases 7, no. 11 (2021): 3096-3110.
Microneedles Array Patch
During my Ph.D. training, I had the opportunity to develop PLGA-based microneedle array patches for drug delivery applications. I explored the use of a hot-melt casting method to fabricate microneedle arrays designed to deliver cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) as a therapeutic payload. Later, while residing in Hangzhou, China during the COVID-19 pandemic, I joined Prof. Zhen Gu’s team as a visiting student, where I further deepened my understanding of microneedle technologies and their biomedical applications.
Reference