About Our Lab
Our lab is working on the edge of fields, Material Science and Biopolymers with Biology and Biochemistry. ​Our agenda is to introduce advanced approaches from materials chemistry and nanotechnology in plant research, biomedicine, and agriculture. Our main expertise is polysaccharides and saccharide-bearing materials (glycosides). The research in our lab is built on a deep understanding of the fundamentals of glycochemistry and glycobiology that allows mechanistic insights and design of advanced materials toward far-reaching scientific and applicative prospects.

The major research directions in our lab are as follows:
(1) Fundamental research on glycochemistry and glycobiology aiming to understand and mimic processes that occur in natural systems   
(2) Rational design of new polysaccharides and oligosaccharides to regulate important cellular processes such as growth, development, and defense. 
(3) Development of self-adjusting systems to deliver active payload across biological barriers, such as plant epidermis, human skin, and cell membranes. Such capacities offer numerous applications, among them transdermal drug delivery, foliar plant treatment, "in-cell" editing without integration into a host genome, tissue engineering, and development of new medicines.
(4) Modifying natural biopolymers to prepare bioactive gels,  films, and coatings for use in medicine, food, and agriculture. 
(5) Waste to worth: using agri-byproducts to form new materials that can serve as greener alternatives to pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, and plastic.

Our methods are developed with safety in mind and adhere to eco-friendly biocompatible materials and green chemistry protocols. We strive to implement our discoveries and maintain tight contact with farmers and industry to be updated about actual problems in the field. We have several initiatives with commercial companies on plant development,  plant nutrition, plant protection, promotion of phytonutrient production in crops, postharvest treatment,  valorization of agrifood waste, tissue engineering, and drug delivery.