Bio

Dr. Qingguo Xu joined the Departments of Pharmaceutics, Ophthalmology and Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University as Assistant Professor in 2017. After receiving his B.E. (2002) and M.E. (2004) in Polymer Materials and Engineering from Tianjin University in China, he was a Dorothy Hodgkin Scholar pursuing D.Phil. (Ph.D.) in Materials Science at the University of Oxford with a research focus on biomaterials and drug delivery. After his Ph.D., Dr. Xu worked as a Process Scientist in Unilever R&D center in England for two years prior to joining the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Nanomedicine, where he worked with Justin Hanes, Ph.D., and Walter J. Stark, M.D., and three years later, he became a Research Associate faculty in the Department of Ophthalmology / Center for Nanomedicine at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Xu has experience in materials science, drug delivery, nanotechnology, and physiochemical characterization of mucosal and tissue barriers to drug delivery systems. A significant portion of his current work has involved the design and development of new methods for safe, effective drug delivery to treat various eye diseases and opioid use disorder. Dr. Xu is an inventor on 13 pending or awarded patents, at least three of which have been licensed to industry for commercialization. He is the recipient of the 2013 AAPS-Genentech Innovation in Biotechnology Award, 2013 EBAA-Richard Lindstrom Award, 2018 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, 2019 Blick Scholar, and 2019 CRS Ocular Delivery Young Investigator.

Education

• D.Phil., Materials Science (University of Oxford, 2009)
• M.E., Materials Science (Tianjin University, China, 2004)
• B.E., Polymer Materials and Engineering (Tianjin University, China, 2002)

Post-Graduate Training

Postdoctoral fellow - Ophthalmology (Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2013)

Professional Experience

• (2021-Present) Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics (primary), with affiliate appointments in Biomedical Engineering, Ophthalmology, Pediatrics, and Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
• (2017-2021) Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics, with affiliate appointments in Ophthalmology, and Massey Cancer Center, VCU
• (2013 - 2017) Research Associate, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• (2008 - 2010) Process Scientist, Unilever R&D at Colworth, Bedford, United Kingdom

Professional and Scholarly Interests

• nanomedicine
• drug delivery
• biomaterials
• ocular diseases
• cancer

Research Interests

My research program focuses on applying engineering principles to advance our understanding of biological barriers to drugs and foreign body immune responses to biomaterials within the context of disease physiology, while developing cutting-edge nanotherapeutic-based treatments for ocular (eye) disorders, cancer and other diseases.

Affiliations

• Department of Pharmaceutics, VCU School of Pharmacy
• Center for Pharmaceutical Engineering and Sciences, VCU School of Pharmacy
• Department of Ophthalmology, VCU School of Medicine
• Department of Pediatrics, VCU School of Medicine
• Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, VCU School of Medicine