(6gv) Nano-Bionics: Polymer and Metal-Organic Thin Films and Particles for Engineering Life

My research focuses on the interface between biological entities and organic, inorganic, and hybrid materials. Specifically, I am a world expert in layer-by-layer assembly technologies (see my review in Science), and am helping to pioneer novel uses for metal-organic materials in biotechnology. I have received superb scientific mentoring from Australia’s leading materials scientist, Prof. Frank Caruso, and have learned extensively about industry-focused research during my two-year postdoc at CSIRO.

Academic Background

I have 3 years of postdoctoral research experience at various world class institutions, and I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in Chemical Engineering at the University of Melbourne in Australia under Professor Frank Caruso. I conducted ~2 years of self-driven research and industrial work at CSIRO, with short-term (2-3 month) visits at both University of Tokyo under Associate Professor Hirotaka Ejima and Sungkyunkwan University under Professor Pil J. Yoo. I completed my PhD with Professor Frank Caruso at the University of Melbourne in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and conducted a 3-month research stay the University of Ghent with Professor Bruno de Geest.

Metrics

My research has led to a number of impactful discoveries and resulted in numerous high-impact publications: 12 first author, 4 corresponding author, 51 total peer-reviewed articles, 6 industrial reports, 4 patent applications, 4 invited talks, an H-index of 20, and over 2000 citations. I have mentored and co-supervised 10 MS students and 6 PhD candidates, and secured a relatively large amount of grant funding for my age (>$500,000 USD excluding scholarships) from the University of Melbourne, the Australian Synchrotron, and the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science.

Research Interests:

I plan to harness my unique expertise in materials engineering and biotechnology to continue my work in thin films and hybrid materials for biomedicine, and to continue to pioneer the field of nanobionics. I will do this by continuing my work in layer-by-layer assembly and organic-inorganic hybrid materials. I will rely on my diverse and extensive network of collaborators around the globe and I will mentor local and international students and researchers. Importantly, LbL and metal-organic systems are low-cost and easy to manufacture, and therefore ideal research topics for starting a new lab.

New Layer-by-Layer (LbL) Assembly techniques: I have a strong background in innovating new LbL assembly methods as this was the focus of my thesis, which led to invitations in Science and Chemical Reviews to summarize the field. I will investigate new driving forces for colloidal LbL assembly, and also develop assembly and patterning techniques for planar LbL thin films. I will then apply the colloidal materials for anti-counterfeiting, therapeutic delivery, and biosensing, while the planar materials will be used for sensing. research will result in new experimental methodologies and equipment, and also new products and applications. Importantly, LbL assembly is low-cost and can be done with common laboratory equipment, and is therefore perfect for starting up a new lab.

Related work:

• Richardson J.J.; Björnmalm, M.; Caruso, F. “Technology Driven Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Nanofilms” Science 2015, 348, aaa2491.
• Richardson, J.J.; et al. “Innovation in Layer-by-Layer Assembly” Chemical Reviews 2016, 116, 14828.
• Richardson, J.J. et al. “Thermally Induced Charge Reversal of Layer-by-Layer Assembled Single-Component Polymer Films” ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 2016, 8, 7449.
• Richardson, J. J. et al. “Convective polymer assembly for the deposition of nanostructures and polymer thin films on immobilized particles” Nanoscale 2014, 6, 13416.
• Richardson, J. J. et al. “Fluidized Bed Layer-by-Layer Microcapsule Formation” Langmuir 2014, 30, 10028.
• Richardson, J. J. et al. "Immersive Polymer Assembly on Immobilized Particles for Automated Capsule Preparation." Advanced Materials 2013, 25, 6874.
• Richardson, J. J. et al. “Preparation of Nano- and Microcapsules by Electrophoretic Polymer Assembly.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2013, 52, 6455.

Organic-inorganic hybrid material synthesis: I have extensive experience in metal-organic systems including metal-phenolic network (MPN) thin films, metal-organic framework (MOF) films and particles, and polymer-stabilized calcium carbonate particles. These materials are all porous and can be used to load large quantities of cargo. Moreover, they are pH responsive and can be used as templates for forming polymeric capsules and films. I will continue to develop new synthesis routes for organic-inorganic hybrid materials with an aim on applying these materials for biotechnology, such as creating biohybrids, forensics, drug delivery, and preserving biomolecules and therapeutics.

Related work:

• Ejima, H.; Richardson, J. J. et al. “One-Step Assembly of Coordination Complexes for Versatile Film and Particle Engineering.” Science 2013, 341, 154.
• Richardson, J.J.* and coworkers. “Biomimetic synthesis of coordination network materials: Recent advances in MOFs and MPNs.” Applied Materials Today 2018, 10, 93.
• Richardson, J.J.* and coworkers. “Biomimetic mineralization of metal-organic frameworks around polysaccharides” Chemical Communications 2017, 53, 1252.
• Guo, J.⁼; Richardson, J.J.⁼et al. “Influence of Ionic Strength on the Deposition of Metal–Phenolic Networks.” Langmuir 2017, 33, 10616.
• Guo, J.; … Richardson, J.J. … “Modular assembly of superstructures from versatile building blocks using polyphenol-based particle functionalization” Nature Nanotechnology 2016, 11, 1105
• Richardson, J.J.* et al “Controlling the Growth of Metal‐Organic Frameworks Using Different Gravitational‐” European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry 2016. 27, 4499.

Drug Delivery: I will continue my work in drug delivery using polymeric and metal-organic drug delivery vehicles. I will primarily focus on novel approaches to drug delivery utilizing my expertise in nanomaterials design. Examples include creating shear responsive drug delivery systems, or vehicles that can cross the blood-brain barrier.

• Richardson, J.J.⁼ et al. “Polymer Capsules for Plaque-Targeted In Vivo Delivery” Advanced Materials 2016, 28, 7703.
• Richardson, J. J. et al. “Versatile Loading of Diverse Cargo into Functional Polymer Capsules” Advanced Science 2015, 2, 1400007.

Nano-bionic Life: Nano-bionic life is an incredibly young field focused on enhancing living organisms with synthetic materials (a sort of complement to synthetic biology and genetic modification). I have helped pioneer this field and published two systems thus far. I plan on pushing the scope of nano-bionics as an independent researcher. I will work on developing injectable technologies (likely subcutaneous) for sequestering toxic metals, gases, or chemical agents from the blood stream, which would be useful for soldiers. And for simpler organisms, I will continue to work on self-assembling hybrid materials in and around the organisms to allow for new metabolic pathways and sensing mechanisms.

Related work:

• Richardson, J.J.*⁼ & Liang, K.^*= “Nano‐Biohybrids: In Vivo Synthesis of Metal–Organic Frameworks inside Living Plants.” Small 2018, 14 (3).
• Liang, K.; Richardson, J.J. et al. “An Enzyme-Coated Metal-Organic Framework Shell for Synthetically Adaptive Cell Survival” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2017, 29, 8360.
• Richardson, J.J.*⁼ & Liang, K.^*= (2018, Jun). Nano-bionic life: A bright future outside the confines of evolution. Angle Journal.

Teaching Interests:

I have not taught any university courses, as I have been working in research intensive postdocs, and CSIRO is a research organization without students (non-degree granting). However, I did work as a TA for 3 subjects during my PhD studies (Chemical Process Analysis, Biology for Engineers, and Bioprocess Engineering). I have a unique academic background which has given me a greater breadth of scientific knowledge and communication skills, outside that of a normal chemical engineer. I have a degree in Philosophy, and therefore understand the complexities of formal logic, and can communicate complex thoughts clearly. Therefore, I would be capable of teaching writing classes for engineers. Additionally, my undergraduate career involved classes in all science subjects and extensive research in microbiology and environmental engineering. My postgraduate work encompasses mathematical optimization, business engineering, and chemical and biomolecular engineering. Collectively, this means I have extensive knowledge in logic (symbolic and verbal), mathematics (statistics, linear, and non-linear), chemistry (organic, inorganic, and biochemistry), biology (genetics and microbiology), and writing.

Specific Courses: I would feel comfortable teaching courses dealing with nanotechnology, biotechnology, biomedicine, writing, experimentation (imaging), etc.

Scientific Supervising and Mentoring: I have supervised graduate and undergraduate students on biomedical research projects, and believe that one-on-one mentoring is essential to develop students into world-class leaders in science and engineering. I also think that understanding the implications of science and engineering on society is crucial, which is why I draw from my undergraduate studies in theory of knowledge, the history of science and ethics when supervising and teaching. Importantly, I have lived on 4 continents and have worked with, and supervised, students from over 25 different countries. This has given me a great appreciation for cultural differences between people, and has taught me how to connect and interact with people from all walks of life. I plan to continue supervising postgraduate students and mentoring undergraduate students as I believe this experience is crucial for students to develop into contributing members of society.