Our group's research focuses on new chemical tools development for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, including:

1.  Development of sulfide based therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Gasotransmitters, as a class of small-molecule drugs with special physical and chemical properties but cannot be directly used in clinical practice, can be modified into prodrugs to achieve potential clinical translation. Hydrogen sulfide, as the main endogenous signaling molecule, is widely involved in the pathophysiological process of the cardiovascular system and nervous system, and is closely related to the occurrence and development of various diseases. However, its physiological role is not well understood.  Our group is aimed to developing new chemical tools to  reveal the molecular mechanism of hydrogen sulfide in modulation of the structure and function of specific proteins, thereby regulating their biological functions. 

2.  Developing new bioorthogonal chemistry for disease diagnosis and drug development. Bioorthogonal chemistry is a new chemical tool that has developed rapidly and has been widely used in recent years. Our group is constructing new bioorthogonal chemical systems to afford new strategies for the rapid detection of diseases and the improvement of druggability.

3. Development of local anesthetics for long-acting selective sensory nerve blockade. Traditional local anesthetics are one of the most commonly used drugs in clinical practice, however their indiscriminate inhibitory effect on motor and sensory nerves affects their clinical use, such as in childbirth and chronic pain. The research group will combine the methods of pharmacy, chemistry, and molecular biology to develop new local anesthetics that are safe, long-acting, and have selective sensory nerve blockade, and study their application towards to painless childbirth and treatment of chronic pain.