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Dr Roger Liang

Senior Lecturer

School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy (Pharmacy and Experimental Pharmacology)

Career Summary

Biography

Dr Liang was trained as a pharmaceutical scientist and has since developed well-equipped research capabilities and leadership in the cross-disciplinary field of advanced drug delivery and nanomedicine. Dr. Liang completed his PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Queensland. His doctoral research theme was to develop nanoparticulate delivery systems for subunit vaccines, which spanned a range of fields including medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical formulation, and immunology. Toward the end of his PhD, Dr Liang started to engage in research at the interface between polymer science and drug delivery and had gained hands-on experience in a variety of polymerisation and bioconjugation techniques. Upon completion of PhD, Dr Liang took up a postdoctoral position at UQ to investigate the biological interactions and toxicity of precisely engineered nanoparticles. This research had led to some key fundamental discoveries that resulted in several publications in the premium journals including ACS Nano, Nature Nanotechnology, Nanomedicines etc. During this time, Dr Liang was also a research teaching academic at School of Pharmacy and committed to teaching pharmacy undergraduates. After that, Dr Liang joined the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design in University of New South Wales, and his research was to develop a platform technology for the efficient delivery of albendazole towards better anti-cancer treatment. In 2011, Dr Liang accepted a lecturer position to establish drug delivery research group at the School of Biomedical Science and Pharmacy in University of Newcastle.

Research Expertise
Dr Liang’s current research centres on advanced drug delivery and nanomedicine, which are at the interface of multidisciplinary fields including chemical & molecular engineering, materials science, chemistry, biotechnology and medicine. His research mainly involves developing novel biomaterials, utilizing self-assembly strategies to formulate biomaterials into desired nano-, micro- and macroscopic structures, and studying applications of these engineered structures for disease treatment and diagnosis.

Teaching Expertise
I mainly teach into pharmaceutics and pharmacy practice within Master of Pharmacy program. In addition, I also deliver guest lectures into Bachelor of Biomedical Science program in the field of drug delivery.




Qualifications

  • PhD, University of Queensland

Keywords

  • Biomaterials
  • Drug delivery
  • Nanomedicine
  • Pharmaceutics
  • Pharmacy Practice

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title Organisation / Department
Senior Lecturer University of Newcastle
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy
Australia
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Publications

For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.

Journal article (28 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2019 Du C, Liang Y, Ma Q, Sun Q, Qi J, Cao J, et al., 'Intracellular tracking of drug release from pH-sensitive polymeric nanoparticles via FRET for synergistic chemo-photodynamic therapy', JOURNAL OF NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY, 17 (2019)
DOI 10.1186/s12951-019-0547-2
2019 Ge R, Cao J, Chi J, Han S, Liang Y, Xu L, et al., 'NIR-guided dendritic nanoplatform for improving antitumor efficacy by combining chemo-phototherapy', International Journal of Nanomedicine, Volume 14 4931-4947 (2019) [C1]
DOI 10.2147/ijn.s203171
2017 Shargh VH, Hondermarck H, Liang M, 'Gelatin-albumin hybrid nanoparticles as matrix metalloproteinases-degradable delivery systems for breast cancer therapy', Nanomedicine, 12 977-989 (2017) [C1]

© 2017 Future Medicine Ltd. Aim: To develop matrix metalloproteinase-responsive gelatin-albumin hybrid nanoparticles encapsulating a selective tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA)... [more]

© 2017 Future Medicine Ltd. Aim: To develop matrix metalloproteinase-responsive gelatin-albumin hybrid nanoparticles encapsulating a selective tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA) inhibitor GNF-5837 (Gel-Alb-GNF HNPs) and to demonstrate their anticancer effects in breast cancer. Methods: Gel-Alb-GNF HNPs were prepared using a pH-controlled complexation process from cationic gelatin, dextran sulfate and albumin-bound GNF-5837. The anticancer activities of Gel-Alb-GNF HNPs were tested in a panel of subtype-specific breast cancer cell lines. Results: Gel-Alb-GNF HNPs (~130 nm) displayed excellent stability and matrix metalloproteinase-triggered drug release. Compared with GNF-5837 alone, Gel-Alb-GNF HNPs not only significantly enhanced the antiproliferative and anti-invasive effects but also restored the apoptosis of cancer cells. Conclusion: Gel-Alb-GNF HNPs may be adaptable for stand-alone therapies or used in combination with traditional chemotherapies for breast cancer treatment.

DOI 10.2217/nnm-2016-0419
Citations Scopus - 4Web of Science - 5
Co-authors Hubert Hondermarck
2016 Shargh VH, Hondermarck H, Liang M, 'Antibody-targeted biodegradable nanoparticles for cancer therapy', Nanomedicine, 11 63-79 (2016) [C1]

© 2016 Future Medicine Ltd. The use of nanotechnology has great potentials to revolutionize the future cancer diagnosis and therapy. In this context, various nanoparticles (NPs) h... [more]

© 2016 Future Medicine Ltd. The use of nanotechnology has great potentials to revolutionize the future cancer diagnosis and therapy. In this context, various nanoparticles (NPs) have been developed for targeted delivery of diagnostic/therapeutic agents to the tumor sites, which thus result in greater efficacy and much less side effects. The targeting property of NPs is often achieved by functionalizing their surface with tumor-specific ligands, such as antibodies, peptides, small molecules and oligonucleotides. In this review, we will discuss recent progress in the multifunctional design of antibody-targeted NPs with a special focus on liposomal, polymeric and protein-based delivery systems.

DOI 10.2217/nnm.15.186
Citations Scopus - 40Web of Science - 36
Co-authors Hubert Hondermarck
2016 Shargh VH, Hondermarck H, Liang M, 'Albumin hybrid nanoparticles loaded with tyrosine kinase A inhibitor GNF-5837 for targeted inhibition of breast cancer cell growth and invasion.', Int J Pharm, 515 527-534 (2016) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2016.10.057
Citations Scopus - 4Web of Science - 4
Co-authors Hubert Hondermarck
2015 Noorani L, Stenzel M, Liang R, Pourgholami MH, Morris DL, 'Albumin nanoparticles increase the anticancer efficacy of albendazole in ovarian cancer xenograft model', Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 13 (2015) [C1]
DOI 10.1186/s12951-015-0082-8
Citations Scopus - 34
2014 Jiang Y, Liang M, Svejkar D, Hart-Smith G, Lu H, Scarano W, Stenzel MH, 'Albumin-micelles via a one-pot technology platform for the delivery of drugs', Chemical Communications, 50 6394-6394 (2014) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/c4cc00616j
Citations Scopus - 24Web of Science - 31
2014 Noorani L, Pourgholami MH, Liang M, Morris DL, Stenzel M, 'Albendazole loaded albumin nanoparticles for ovarian cancer therapy', European Journal of Nanomedicine, 6 227-236 (2014) [C1]

© 2014 by De Gruyter 2014. Albendazole (ABZ), a well-established antiparasitic drug, has been shown to suppress tumor growth in a number of preclinical models of cancer. However, ... [more]

© 2014 by De Gruyter 2014. Albendazole (ABZ), a well-established antiparasitic drug, has been shown to suppress tumor growth in a number of preclinical models of cancer. However, the low solubility of ABZ limits its use as a systemic anticancer agent. To enable systemic administration, we have formulated ABZ into albumin nanoparticles with a size range of 200-300 nm, which were cross-linked with glutaraldehyde to stabilize the nanoparticles and to introduce pH-responsive features. Drug release studies demonstrated that about 20% of ABZ was released at neutral pH within a week in comparison to 70% at slightly acidic condition (pH 5). Cellular uptake studies using ovarian cancer cells indicated that nanoparticles were internalized efficiently within 1 h of incubation. Further, cell proliferation results demonstrated that albumin nanoparticles alone showed no cytotoxicity to both normal and cancer cells. In contrast, the drug-loaded nanoparticles exhibited cellular toxicity and high killing efficacy to cancer cells compared to normal cells. Collectively, our results suggest that these albumin nanoparticles may hold great potentials as ABZ carriers for cancer therapy.

DOI 10.1515/ejnm-2014-0026
Citations Scopus - 6Web of Science - 4
2013 Deng ZJ, Liang M, Toth I, Monteiro M, Minchin RF, 'Plasma protein binding of positively and negatively charged polymer-coated gold nanoparticles elicits different biological responses', Nanotoxicology, 7 314-322 (2013) [C1]
DOI 10.3109/17435390.2012.655342
Citations Scopus - 71Web of Science - 64
2012 Yhaya F, Sutinah A, Gregory AM, Liang M, Stenzel MH, 'RAFT polymerization of vinyl methacrylate and subsequent conjugation via enzymatic thiol-ene chemistry', Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 50 4085-4093 (2012) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 10
2012 Lin I-C, Liang M, Liu T-Y, Jia Z, Monteiro M, Toth I, 'Effect of polymer grafting density on silica nanoparticle toxicity', Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 20 6862-6869 (2012) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 10
2012 Lin I-C, Liang M, Liu T-Y, Monteiro MJ, Toth I, 'Cellular transport pathways of polymer coated gold nanoparticles', Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology Biology and Medicine, 8 8-11 (2012) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.nano.2011.09.014
Citations Scopus - 33Web of Science - 29
2012 Deng ZJ, Liang M, Toth I, Monteiro MJ, Minchin RF, 'Molecular Interaction of Poly(acrylic acid) Gold Nanoparticles with Human Fibrinogen', ACS Nano, 6 8962-8969 (2012) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/nn3029953
Citations Scopus - 113Web of Science - 101
2011 Lin I-C, Liang M, Liu T-Y, Ziora ZM, Monteiro MJ, Toth I, 'Interaction of Densely Polymer-Coated Gold Nanoparticles with Epithelial Caco-2 Monolayers', Biomacromolecules, 12 1339-1348 (2011) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/bm200116z
Citations Scopus - 45Web of Science - 41
2011 Deng ZJ, Liang M, Monteiro MJ, Toth I, Minchin RF, 'Nanoparticle-induced unfolding of fibrinogen promotes Mac-1 receptor activation and inflammation', Nature Nanotechnology, 6 39-44 (2011) [C1]
DOI 10.1038/nnano.2010.250
Citations Scopus - 528Web of Science - 491
2011 Yhaya F, Lim J, Kim Y, Liang M, Gregory AM, Stenzel MH, 'Development of Micellar Novel Drug Carrier Utilizing Temperature-Sensitive Block Copolymers Containing Cyclodextrin Moieties', Macromolecules, 44 8433-8445 (2011) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/ma2013964
Citations Scopus - 55Web of Science - 56
2010 Liang M, Lin I-C, Whittaker MR, Minchin RF, Monteiro MJ, Toth I, 'Cellular uptake of densely packed polymer coatings on gold nanoparticles', ACS Nano, 4 403-413 (2010) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 132
2009 Wu SY, Putral LN, Liang M, Chang H-I, Davies NM, McMillan NAJ, '. Development of a novel method for formulating stable siRNA-loaded lipid particles for in vivo use', Pharmaceutical Research, 26 512-522 (2009) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 39
2008 Sarpietro MG, Micieli D, Pignatello R, Liang M, Toth I, Castelli F, 'Effect of variation in the chain number and length in modulating the interaction of immunogenic lipopeptide with biomembrane models', Thermochimica Acta, 471 14-19 (2008) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 5
2008 Liang M, Davies NM, Toth I, 'Increasing entrapment of peptides within poly(alkyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles prepared by interfacial polymerization of water-in-oil microemulsions', International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 362 141-146 (2008) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 17
2008 Koda Y, Liang M, Blanchfield JT, Toth I, 'In vitro stability and permeability studies of liposomal delivery systems for a novel lipophilic endomorphin 1 analogue', International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 356 37-43 (2008) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 20
2008 Liang M, Davies NM, Toth I, 'A novel method for preparing immune stimulating complexes (ISCOMs) by hydration of freeze-dried lipid matrix', European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 68 840-845 (2008) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 7
2006 Liang M, Davies NM, Blanchfield JT, Toth I, 'Particulate systems as adjuvants and carriers for peptide and protein antigen', Current Drug Delivery, 3 379-388 (2006) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 55
2005 Liang M, Davies NM, Toth I, 'Encapsulation of lipopeptides within liposomes: Effect of number of lipid chains, chain length and method of liposome preparation', International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 301 247-254 (2005) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 42
2002 Wang D-X, Liang M-T, Tian G-J, Lin H, Liu H-Q, 'A facile pathway to synthesize diketopiperazine derivatives', Tetrahedron Letters, 43 865-867 (2002)
DOI 10.1016/s0040-4039(01)02005-6
2002 Liang M, Wang DX, 'Concise and efficient synthesis of dehydropeptide analogues from unsaturated 5(4H)-oxazolone', CHINESE CHEMICAL LETTERS, 13 199-200 (2002)
2002 Liang M, Wang DX, 'Synthesis of 2-amino-3-arylnorbornane-2-carboxylic acid analogues', Chinese Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 27-30 (2002)
2001 Liang M, Wang DX, 'Progress in the synthesis and application of beta-lactam', CHINESE JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, 97-101 (2001)
Show 25 more journal articles

Conference (4 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2015 Shargh VH, Hondermarck H, Liang M, 'ENHANCING THE EFFICACY OF TYROSINE KINASE INHIBITORS THROUGH BIO-POLYMERIC ALBUMIN HYBRID NANOPARTICLES IN BREAST CANCER', ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY (2015) [E3]
Co-authors Hubert Hondermarck
2014 Shargh VH, Hondermarck H, Liang M, 'MULTIFUNCTIONAL NANOMEDICINES BASED ON ALBUMIN FOR TARGETED BREAST CANCER THERAPY', ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY (2014) [E3]
Co-authors Hubert Hondermarck
2012 Zhao Y, Liang M, Kim Y, Tan X, Zhang L, Stenzel MH, 'Development of core-crosslinked micelles for drug delivery system', Advanced Materials Research, Hong Kong (2012) [E1]
Citations Scopus - 1
2006 Liang MT, Hennessy T, Toth I, Davies NM, Hook S, 'Synthetic lipopeptides formulated in liposomes: Effect on their immune stimulatory capacity in vitro', Proceedings of the 2006 International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, ICONN (2006)

Conjugation of antigenic peptides to lipoamino acids (LAA) has been shown to increase the membrane permeability of peptides and protects them from enzymatic degradation, but the r... [more]

Conjugation of antigenic peptides to lipoamino acids (LAA) has been shown to increase the membrane permeability of peptides and protects them from enzymatic degradation, but the resulting LAA-conjugated peptides were poorly soluble in both aqueous and organic solvents. To overcome the formulation issue and to further enhance the bioactivity, lipopeptide constructs (LAA-LCMV 33-41) have been encapsulated within liposomes with high entrapment efficiency. The purpose of this study was to assess the immune stimulatory capacity of these lipopeptides and their liposomal formulations. Because dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role as antigen-presenting cells in immune responses, the in vitro cellular activities of the lipopeptides and their liposomal formulations were tested by measuring the up-regulation of the surface markers CD80, CD86 and MHCII on DCs. We found that conjugation of lipoamino acid with peptide antigen enhanced its immune stimulatory capacity compared with the unmodified peptide. However, encapsulation of lipopeptides within liposomes appears to compromise their immuno-stimulatory capacity at least at a loading of 10%. © 2006 IEEE.

DOI 10.1109/ICONN.2006.340608
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Other (7 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2016 Liang M, 'Enhanced anticancer activity of tyrosine kinase inhibitor GNF-5837 via tumor responsive gelatinalbumin hybrid nanoparticles', (2016) [O1]
2015 Liang M, 'Albumin-dextran-chitosan hybrid nanoparticle enhances the efficacy of tyrosine kinase inhibitor GNF-5837 in breast cancer', (2015) [O1]
2015 Liang M, 'Albumin based nanoparticles can increase the efficiency of Trk inhibitor GNF-5837 in breast cancer', (2015) [O1]
2015 Liang M, 'Enhancing the Efficacy of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors through Bio-Polymeric Albumin Hybrid Nanoparticles in Breast Cancer', (2015) [O1]
2014 Liang M, 'Nanoparticle co-delivery of protein inhibitor and siRNA for cancer treatment', (2014) [O1]
2014 Liang M, 'Multifunctional nanomedicines based on albumin for targeted breast cancer therapy', (2014) [O1]
2012 Liang M, 'Plasma protein binding of polymer-coated gold nanoparticles elicits different biological responses', (2012) [O1]
Show 4 more others
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Grants and Funding

Summary

Number of grants 9
Total funding $364,864

Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.

20192 grants / $119,000

Microfluidic Nanoparticle Synthesis$114,000

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body University of Newcastle
Project Team

Roger Liang
Scheme Equipment Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2019
Funding Finish 2019
GNo
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON N

Computational Drug Design$5,000

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body University of Newcastle
Project Team

Roger Liang, Adam McCluskey
Scheme New Course Initiative Funding
Role Lead
Funding Start 2019
Funding Finish 2019
GNo
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON N

20181 grants / $28,000

Therapeutic Targeting of Long Noncoding RNA REG1CP for Colorectal Cancer Treatment$28,000

Funding body: Hunter Medical Research Institute

Funding body Hunter Medical Research Institute
Project Team Doctor Roger Liang, Doctor Lei Jin, Professor Xu Dong Zhang
Scheme Project Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2018
Funding Finish 2018
GNo G1801350
Type Of Funding C3120 - Aust Philanthropy
Category 3120
UON Y

20172 grants / $140,364

Novel epithelial targets and targeting strategies to prevent asthma exacerbations$136,364

Funding body: Asthma Australia

Funding body Asthma Australia
Project Team Associate Professor Nathan Bartlett, Conjoint Professor Peter Wark, Doctor Roger Liang, Professor Darryl Knight
Scheme National Research Program
Role Investigator
Funding Start 2017
Funding Finish 2018
GNo G1601217
Type Of Funding C3111 - Aust For profit
Category 3111
UON Y

Nanoparticle-mediated mitochondrial delivery of antioxidants for asthma therapy$4,000

Funding body: Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle

Funding body Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle
Project Team

Dr Roger Liang, Prof Darryl Knight, Dr Nathan Bartlett, A/P Christopher Grainge
Scheme Strategic Pilot Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2017
Funding Finish 2018
GNo
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON N

20152 grants / $31,000

Improving the effectiveness of a new treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)$25,000

Funding body: Hunter Medical Research Institute

Funding body Hunter Medical Research Institute
Project Team Doctor Kathryn Skelding, Doctor Mengna Chi, Associate Professor Nikki Verrills, Doctor Roger Liang
Scheme Project Grant
Role Investigator
Funding Start 2015
Funding Finish 2015
GNo G1600224
Type Of Funding Grant - Aust Non Government
Category 3AFG
UON Y

A supramolecular platform toward mitochondria-targeted nanomedicines$6,000

Funding body: Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle

Funding body Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle
Project Team

Dr Roger Liang
Scheme Faculty Pilot Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2015
Funding Finish 2016
GNo
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON N

20141 grants / $1,500

4th Annual World Congress of Nanoscience and Technology, Qingdao, P.R.China, 23 - 31 October 2014$1,500

Funding body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Health and Medicine

Funding body University of Newcastle - Faculty of Health and Medicine
Project Team Doctor Roger Liang
Scheme Travel Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2014
Funding Finish 2014
GNo G1400985
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

20121 grants / $45,000

Novel biomaterials and drug delivery $45,000

Funding body: The Faculty of Health Science / The University of Newcastle / Australia

Funding body The Faculty of Health Science / The University of Newcastle / Australia
Project Team

Dr Roger Liang
Scheme Startup funding
Role Lead
Funding Start 2012
Funding Finish 2013
GNo
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON N
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Research Supervision

Number of supervisions

Completed1
Current4

Current Supervision

Commenced Level of Study Research Title Program Supervisor Type
2019 Honours Microfluidic synthesis of functional nanoparticles for biomedical applications Pharmacy, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor
2019 PhD Novel Utilisation of Nanotechnology in Drug Discovery PhD (Pharmacy), Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor
2017 PhD Development of a Novel Injectable Chemical Agent for the Sterilisation of Cats and Dogs PhD (Biological Sciences), Faculty of Science, The University of Newcastle Co-Supervisor
2016 PhD Development of Epithelial Targeted Nanoparticles for Asthma Therapy PhD (Pharmacy), Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor

Past Supervision

Year Level of Study Research Title Program Supervisor Type
2017 PhD Multifunctional Nanomedicines Based on Albumin for Targeted Breast Cancer Therapy PhD (Pharmacy), Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor
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Dr Roger Liang

Position

Senior Lecturer
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy
Faculty of Health and Medicine

Focus area

Pharmacy and Experimental Pharmacology

Contact Details

Email roger.liang@newcastle.edu.au
Phone (02) 4985 4959
Fax (02) 4921 7903

Office

Room MS117
Building Medical Science Building
Location Callaghan
University Drive
Callaghan, NSW 2308
Australia
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