Gao's group focuses on chemical biology, molecular probes, and molecular imaging. This interdisciplinary research field has great potential for early detection and analysis, accurate imaging and diagnosis, and disease treatment and management.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has a critically important role in molecular imaging and clinical diagnosis. Approximately 35% of clinical MR scans need contrast agents to improve their sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy. The aim in our group is to develop high-performance MRI contrast agents (CAs) to improve the sensitivity, spatial resolution, and accuracy in molecular imaging and diagnostic analysis.

Fluorine-19 MRI is emerging as an excellent complement to conventional ¹H MRI because ¹⁹F MRI has high sensitivity, low biological background, and broad chemical shift range. The specificity and sensitivity of ¹⁹F MRI could be further boosted with activatable ¹⁹F-containing probes. The purpose is to design and synthesize various ¹⁹F-containing probes for visualization of biological targets in living subjects. We also develop fluorinated molecules with diverse ¹⁹F chemical shifts as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) molecular codes for secure information storage.

Interest has grown in the use of nanomaterials as sensors for bioanalysis and diagnosis, particularly in vitro diagnostics (IVD). With the advantages of high volume/surface ratio, surface tailorability, multifunctionality, and intrinsic properties, nanoprobes have tremendous applications in the areas of biomarker discovery and analysis (e.g., DNA/RNA, enzymes, peptides), diagnostics of infectious diseases (e.g., bacteria and virus), and cancer detection. The distinguishing features of nanoprobes for in vitro use, such as harmlessness, ultrasensitivity, multiplicity, and point-of-care use, can bring a bright future of IVD. Besides, ¹⁹F-containing molecular sensors could be used as barcoding information for detection of multiple biomarkers in complex environments.

Chemotherapy is the dominant treatment modality for cancer, yet it is limited by poor biodistribution and severe side effects in patients. The rising of nanotechnology has provided a versatile platform for cancer treatment. Because of their large surface-to-volume ratio, high flexibility for surface tailoring, and excellent capacity for multifunction, nanoparticles have recently emerged as a promising carrier for delivery of multiple drugs (e.g., DOX, PTX, ATO, and CPT), which provides a potential solution for the problems of conventional therapy. The goal is to develop new drug delivery systems incorporating cancer diagnosis, real-time drug release monitoring, and high therapeutic efficiency. Another promising strategy is the prodrugs, which could accomplish selective delivery and controlled release of therapeutic agents to cancer cells and promote treatment effects.