Research Projects
Non-antibiotic antibacterial biomaterials

Currently, bacterial infections and related diseases are one of the three major threats to human health. Even worse is the abuse of antibiotics, which has led to the development of multi-drug resistant bacteria. The rapid evolution of multi-drug resistant bacteria is now challenging traditional antibiotic-dependent antibacterial treatment. According to a report by the World Health Organization, more than 2 million people are infected with drug-resistant bacteria each year. The escalating drug-resistant bacterial infections not only pose a serious threat to human health worldwide but also impose a huge economic burden. Traditional antibiotics are gradually failing and facing obsolescence, which has led to a growing need to develop new types of antibiotics. However, new antibiotics typically take more than 10 years from successful development to practical clinical use. By contrast, it only takes about two weeks for bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics. Thus, it is impossible to maintain the efficiency of developing new antibiotics at the pace of bacterial resistance development. Therefore, there is an imperative need to develop novel non-antibiotic antimicrobials.

Dr Y Zhu, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology

Currently, Dr. Zhu is a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). His specializations include advanced tissue regeneration and antibacterial biomaterials, with a focus on surface engineering strategies for immune-modulating implants, nanomaterials engineering with stimulus-responsive platforms for tissue regeneration, and non-antibiotic antibacterial materials.

His academic contributions include 17 published papers with over 1000 citations and an h-index of 13 (Google Scholar). He has also actively participated in numerous local and regional competitions, earning recognition such as the Faculty Research Output Award (2024) and the Chinese Association for Biomaterials Trainee Award (2025). As both a principal investigator and co-investigator, he has successfully secured funding exceeding HK$ 7,000,000.

Biography
ORCID
benqiu@hku.hk

For more information or to express interest for this project, please email the supervisor or the specified contact point in the project description.  Interested candidates are advised to enclose with your email:

1. your CV,
2. a brief description of your research interest and experience, and
3. two reference letters (not required for HKUMed UG students seeking MRes[Med]/URIS projects).

Information on the research programme, funding support and admission documentations could be referenced online at the Research Postgraduate Admissions website. General admission enquiries should be directed to rpgmed@hku.hk.

HKUMed MBBS students interested in the Master of Research in Medicine (MRes[Med]) programme may visit the programme website for more information.  

HKUMed UG students interested in the Undergraduate Research Internship Scheme (URIS) may visit the scheme’s website for more information.