Qiang Feng, Ph.D. Titles and Appointments Assistant Professor School Medical School Department Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center | Biomedical Engineering Biography Download Curriculum Vitae Dr. Qiang Feng received his Bachelor’s (2012) and Master’s (2014) degrees in Pharmaceutics from Peking University and earned his Ph.D. (2017) in Nanoscience and Technology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He completed his postdoctoral training with Professor Jinming Gao at UT Southwestern, where he is now an Assistant Professor. Dr. Feng’s research focuses on the abundance and immunological roles of key metabolites in the tumor microenvironment. By developing multi-chromatic pH nanosensors with high spatial resolution, he uncovered the presence of severely polarized extracellular acidity (pHe < 5.3) surrounding tumor cells—over an order of magnitude more extreme than previously recognized (Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2024). Integrating cancer biology, clinical insights, and immune metabolism, he demonstrated that this severe acidity acts as a potent but underappreciated immunosuppressor, while sodium lactate, its anionic counterpart, has immune-protective properties (Nature Communications, 2022). These findings led to the development of acidity-targeted immunotherapy nanodrugs and metabolism-regulating immune adjuvants. To date, Dr. Feng has authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, with more than 4,000 citations, and holds three patents for his discoveries. Research Interest Immunometabolism Immunotherapy Single-cell metabolic technology Publications Featured Publications Severely polarized extracellular acidity around tumour cells. Feng Q, Bennett Z, Grichuk A, Pantoja R, Huang T, Faubert B, Huang G, Chen M, DeBerardinis RJ, Sumer BD, Gao J, Nat Biomed Eng 2024 Jun 8 6 787-799 Lactate increases stemness of CD8?+?T cells to augment anti-tumor immunity. Feng Q, Liu Z, Yu X, Huang T, Chen J, Wang J, Wilhelm J, Li S, Song J, Li W, Sun Z, Sumer BD, Li B, Fu YX, Gao J, Nat Commun 2022 09 13 1 4981 Tumor-Targeted Inhibition of Monocarboxylate Transporter 1 Improves T-Cell Immunotherapy of Solid Tumors. Huang T, Feng Q, Wang Z, Li W, Sun Z, Wilhelm J, Huang G, Vo T, Sumer BD, Gao J, Adv Healthc Mater 2020 May e2000549 Transistor-like Ultra-pH-Sensitive Polymeric Nanoparticles. Feng Q, Wilhelm J, Gao J, Acc. Chem. Res. 2019 May One-Step Microfluidic Synthesis of Nanocomplex with Tunable Rigidity and Acid-Switchable Surface Charge for Overcoming Drug Resistance. Feng Q, Liu J, Li X, Chen Q, Sun J, Shi X, Ding B, Yu H, Li Y, Jiang X Small 2016 Dec Microfluidics-mediated assembly of functional nanoparticles for cancer-related pharmaceutical applications. Feng Q, Sun J, Jiang X Nanoscale 2016 Feb Microfluidic Synthesis of Hybrid Nanoparticles with Controlled Lipid Layers: Understanding Flexibility-Regulated Cell-Nanoparticle Interaction. Zhang L, Feng Q, Wang J, Zhang S, Ding B, Wei Y, Dong M, Ryu JY, Yoon TY, Shi X, Sun J, Jiang X ACS Nano 2015 Oct 9 10 9912-21 Microfluidic based high throughput synthesis of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles with tunable diameters. Feng Q, Zhang L, Liu C, Li X, Hu G, Sun J, Jiang X Biomicrofluidics 2015 Sep 9 5 052604 Microfluidic Synthesis of Rigid Nanovesicles for Hydrophilic Reagents Delivery. Zhang L, Feng Q, Wang J, Sun J, Shi X, Jiang X Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2015 Feb Synergistic inhibition of breast cancer by co-delivery of VEGF siRNA and paclitaxel via vapreotide-modified core-shell nanoparticles. Feng Q, Yu MZ, Wang JC, Hou WJ, Gao LY, Ma XF, Pei XW, Niu YJ, Liu XY, Qiu C, Pang WH, Du LL, Zhang Q Biomaterials 2014 Jun 35 18 5028-38 Results 1-10 of 10 1 Honors & Awards Young Investigator Award (SITC) (2022)
