NMU-CHINA iDEC Team 2025
Annual Record of Collaboration and Exchange

The success of our project is indebted to the active collaboration and exchange with academic experts, research institutions, and fellow iDEC teams throughout the year. These interactions have provided us with invaluable guidance, resources, and inspiration.

October 2025: Interview with Professor Zhang Wei from Changhai Hospital

To deepen our understanding of the challenges in bladder cancer treatment and explore the application of cutting-edge biotechnology in precision medicine, we were honored to invite Professor Zhang Wei, a renowned expert in the Department of Urology at Shanghai Changhai Hospital, for a team interview.
Professor Zhang Wei possesses extensive experience in the clinical diagnosis, surgical treatment, and innovative therapy research for bladder cancer. His team is consistently dedicated to translating the latest scientific research findings into clinical practice, bringing more effective treatment options to patients.
This interview focused on the pathogenesis of bladder cancer and the current challenges in clinical treatment, such as high postoperative recurrence rates and chemotherapy resistance. Simultaneously, we specifically sought Professor Zhang's insights on the application prospects of directed evolution technology in urological tumor research. We discussed how to utilize this powerful biotechnology tool to simulate the evolution pathways of tumor cells to predict drug resistance, and even to develop new targeted drugs or diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
We believe that the insightful perspectives from Professor Zhang, grounded in frontline clinical practice, will provide crucial guidance for our synthetic biology-based project design, helping our research better align with actual clinical needs, bridging the gap between bench and bedside.

To keep pace with the latest technological dynamics in the field of directed evolution and broaden the team's perspective on miniaturized, high-throughput biotechnology platforms, the NMU-CHINA iDEC team actively participated in the 2025 iDEC Summer Symposium. We focused on attending the special lecture titled "Future High-Throughput Technologies Driven by Advanced Micro-Total Analysis Systems (µTAS)" delivered by Professor Zhang Shuailong from the Beijing Institute of Technology.
As a leading scholar in the fields of micro-nano operating systems and lab-on-a-chip, Professor Zhang Shuailong has achieved numerous groundbreaking results in optoelectronic tweezers, digital microfluidic systems, and integrated biomedical detection. In his report, he systematically introduced the latest advances in µTAS technology, particularly how innovative methods such as optoelectrically driven micro-nano robots and reconfigurable microfluidics enable precise manipulation and high-throughput analysis of cells and biomolecules.
This learning experience provided important technical inspiration for the high-throughput screening and biomolecular optimization involved in our project. The micro-nano integrated systems demonstrated by Professor Zhang offered new ideas for exploring the integration of the directed evolution process with miniaturized, automated platforms, showing significant reference value especially in improving experimental efficiency, reducing reagent consumption, and enabling real-time monitoring.
We firmly believe that assimilating the concepts from such cutting-edge engineering technologies will vigorously promote tool innovation and platform construction in our project's direction of targeted therapy for bladder cancer, further enhancing the project's technical integration and translational potential.

To gain an in-depth understanding of the latest progress in current genomics sequencing technology and its application potential in the field of synthetic biology, the NMU-CHINA iDEC team invited a senior technical expert from BGI Genomics to conduct an online technical exchange session for all members on the theme "Application and Practice of High-Throughput Sequencing Technology in Directed Evolution Research."
As a globally leading genomics research and development institution, BGI possesses profound accumulation in sequencing platform development, bioinformatics analysis, and multi-omics data integration. During this exchange, the technical expert systematically introduced the basic principles and process optimization of next-generation sequencing technology, focusing on its key roles in mutant library construction, evolutionary trajectory tracking, and functional gene screening. Combined with practical cases, the expert demonstrated how to use sequencing data to deeply mine key mutation sites and evolutionary patterns during protein evolution.
This exchange provided important technical support for the high-throughput mutant screening and evolutionary path analysis involved in our project. The practical experience and solutions shared by the expert helped us further clarify the design of sequencing strategies and data analysis methods, offering significant reference value particularly in improving mutant identification efficiency, reducing sequencing costs, and enabling dynamic monitoring of the evolutionary process.
We are convinced that the deep integration of genomics sequencing technology and directed evolution research will greatly enhance the efficiency and precision of our project in the development and optimization stage of targeted components for bladder cancer, laying a solid data foundation for subsequent functional verification and translational applications.

To further enhance the team's knowledge level in the field of urological tumors and gain a deep understanding of the application status of novel targeted drugs in current clinical practice, the NMU-CHINA iDEC team recently visited the Department of Urology at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital and held in-depth exchanges with intern Jiang Luoming and attending physician Dr. Gong Wenliang.
Dr. Gong Wenliang has rich experience in drug therapy and personalized diagnosis and treatment of urological tumors, with particular focus on the clinical application and mechanism research of targeted drugs in diseases like bladder cancer and prostate cancer. As a clinical intern, Mr. Jiang Luoming has also accumulated valuable practical perspectives from his clinical clerkship in urological oncology.
During the exchange, we focused on discussing the current development trends in targeted therapy for urological tumors, especially the application effects and challenges of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) like Disitamab Vedotin in clinical practice. Dr. Gong Wenliang, combining clinical cases, detailed the drug's mechanism of action, applicable populations, and adverse reaction management strategies, providing an important reference for our understanding of its value in real-world treatment scenarios.
It is worth mentioning that while reviewing the promotional brochure produced by our team, Dr. Gong Wenliang particularly praised: "The images are exquisite, and the content is comprehensive, particularly helpful for everyone to understand Disitamab Vedotin." This evaluation is not only an affirmation of our science communication efforts but also encourages us to continue conveying scientific knowledge in a professional and accessible manner.
This exchange provided valuable clinical input for the design of targeted component screening and drug delivery strategies in our project, further bridging the gap between us and the clinical frontline, and laying a good foundation for subsequent interdisciplinary collaboration.

To promote the in-depth exploration of our project in the field of bladder cancer treatment and ensure its research direction is closely aligned with actual clinical needs, we were honored to invite Professor Zhang Sheng from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center to provide professional guidance for our project competition.
Professor Zhang Sheng has profound expertise in both clinical diagnosis/treatment and basic research of urological tumors, with a particular focus on precision therapy for bladder cancer and research on tumor evolution mechanisms. His team has achieved outstanding results in exploring the biological essence of clinical challenges such as tumor drug resistance and recurrence.
This guidance session will focus on the targeted therapy for bladder cancer involved in our project and the application of directed evolution technology. We anticipate that Professor Zhang, from a clinical perspective, will analyze the core bottlenecks in current bladder cancer treatment and guide us on how to utilize the cutting-edge strategy of directed evolution to simulate the evolution process of tumor cells, thereby designing more forward-looking and effective synthetic biology solutions. Professor Zhang's valuable experience will help us optimize our experimental design and enhance the scientific depth and potential application value of our project.
We firmly believe that Professor Zhang Sheng's professional guidance will inject crucial clinical insights into our participation in top competitions like iDEC, ensuring that our project is not only technologically innovative but also directly addresses clinical pain points, laying a solid foundation for future translational medicine research.

To promote the interdisciplinary integration of synthetic biology and preventive medicine, and to broaden the multidisciplinary perspective on frontier bladder cancer research, we sincerely invited students from the Preventive Medicine program at Fudan University to share our project results with them.
As a common malignant tumor worldwide, the occurrence, development, and recurrence of bladder cancer are closely related to risk factors such as environmental exposure and lifestyle, which are the core areas of focus for preventive medicine. Furthermore, the "drug resistance" developed by tumor cells under the pressure of drug treatment is essentially a dynamic micro-evolutionary process.
This sharing session focused on introducing how we use the powerful biotechnology tool of directed evolution to simulate this process in the laboratory. We presented how the project designs and implements evolutionary strategies, aiming to predict the evolution pathways of tumor cells in advance and screen for novel inhibitors, providing new potential strategies for the early intervention of bladder cancer and overcoming drug resistance.
We firmly believe that the macro perspective and population-level thinking of preventive medicine will infuse our micro-technological research with a crucial "big health" concept. We look forward to exchanging ideas and colliding thoughts with fellow students, jointly exploring how to better translate cutting-edge biotechnology achievements into public health solutions covering the entire chain of "prevention-diagnosis-treatment." Let us join hands to explore more innovative possibilities for the prevention and treatment of bladder cancer.

To explore the new possibilities arising from the integration of cutting-edge life sciences and advanced engineering technology, we sincerely invited faculty and students from the Measurement and Control Technology and Instrumentation program at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) to participate in a topic discussion with the NMU-CHINA iDEC team.
How to convert biological signals from the micro-world into stable, reliable, and remotely monitorable physical signals is a key bottleneck for achieving their clinical application and even application in special environments.
This is precisely where the expertise of NUAA's Measurement and Control Technology and Instrumentation program comes into play. We look forward to discussing with the engineers and future scientists: how to innovatively apply the high-precision sensing technologies, miniaturized instrument design, and remote signal transmission and processing systems from aerospace engineering to our biological project. For example, developing miniaturized devices for real-time monitoring of live cell dynamics, or designing measurement and control solutions to ensure the stable operation of biosensors in complex environments.
We believe this exchange will be a true instance of "two-way empowerment." We bring pressing biomedical problems and innovative biological tools, while you provide the engineering expertise to turn concepts into real products. Let us join hands to break down disciplinary barriers and jointly explore innovative solutions in the precise diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer and even broader fields.

Precise treatment of bladder cancer requires not only targeted biological strategies but also high-precision, high-efficiency drug delivery and surgical assistance technologies. The functional transformation of specific biological components screened by directed evolution technology – such as targeting ligands and sensing switches – through miniaturized devices, controlled release systems, or intelligent detection instruments is precisely the key link where mechanical engineering can play a core role.
This sharing session focused on analyzing the potential bladder cancer targeting components obtained through our directed evolution technology and exploring technical pathways for their integration with microfluidic chips, drug-controlled release devices, or image-guided instruments. We look forward to brainstorming with the Jilin University Mechanical Engineering team: how to translate biological characteristics into mechanical design parameters and collaboratively develop the next-generation precision treatment platform for bladder cancer.
We believe that the precise design capability and systematic thinking of mechanical engineering will inject key momentum into the instrumentalization and automation of synthetic biology achievements. We anticipate that through this exchange, we can jointly promote the advancement of bladder cancer treatment from "biological discovery" to "engineering realization," building an innovative paradigm for interdisciplinary collaboration.

To promote the deep integration of basic research and clinical perspectives, and ensure our research topic is close to medical reality, our team recently conducted a productive online project exchange with clinical medicine students from Shandong University, Shandong First Medical University, and Changchun University of Chinese Medicine.
This exchange focused on the core challenges of targeted therapy for bladder cancer in our project and the innovative directed evolution technology strategy. Students from different institutions, with backgrounds in clinical clerkships or research, provided valuable insights from diverse clinical perspectives. They shared the real challenges observed for bladder cancer patients during their urology clerkships, particularly regarding clinical pain points like tumor heterogeneity and chemotherapy resistance, which provided crucial real-world context for our research direction.
During the discussion, we deeply explored forward-looking concepts such as how to use directed evolution technology to simulate evolutionary pressures in the tumor microenvironment and predict pathways to drug resistance. Our clinical counterparts offered pertinent advice on the feasibility of our technical approach and potential translational prospects, and inspired us to think about how to more effectively integrate synthetic biology tools with existing clinical diagnosis and treatment frameworks.
This cross-institutional, interdisciplinary exchange greatly broadened our research horizons and effectively helped our project take a solid step from "laboratory conception" towards "solving real clinical problems." We sincerely thank all our clinical medicine counterparts for their generous guidance and look forward to maintaining communication in the future to jointly explore new strategies for bladder cancer treatment.

To deepen the project's research foundation in the intersection of immune regulation and cancer therapy, we conducted multiple in-depth exchanges with SynthImmunol_NMU, a team from our university also participating in the iDEC competition. This team, guided jointly by Lecturer Luo Jianhua and Associate Professor Guo Meng from the Immunology Teaching and Research Section, focuses on the application of synthetic biology in immune engineering.
The two teams shared their respective research results and progress around core topics such as "Characteristics of the Tumor Microenvironment in Bladder Cancer" and "How to Use Directed Evolution Technology to Optimize Immunotherapy Strategies." Through these exchanges, we gained valuable inspiration in areas such as targeted delivery of immune cells and overcoming the immunosuppressive environment, and held productive discussions on the challenges within the technical route.
Based on the depth and mutual trust established through the exchanges, we sincerely invited Professor Luo Jianhua and Professor Guo Meng to serve as professional knowledge advisors for this project. The profound knowledge and research experience of the two Professors in the field of immunology will provide authoritative academic support for our project in key areas such as immune mechanism verification and therapy safety evaluation. Their guidance will ensure our design is more rigorous in biological logic, significantly enhancing the project's scientific quality and competitiveness.
We believe that this cross-team collaboration and the addition of expert advisors represent an important step for the project to deepen and achieve technological breakthroughs.