Emerging Light-Harvesting, Cell-Interfacing and Quantum Organic Nanomaterials

19th February 2026

Timing : 1 pm ET

Please use this zoom link for joining the webinar

For a list of all talks at the NanoBio seminar series Spring'26, see here

Harnessing the immense potential of quantum materials and technologies is now a global strategic development priority, while we still face grand challenges in engineering, energy, sustainability and biomedical research. In this NanoBio Seminar, Dr. Yuping Shi will present his works and long-term research vision toward tackling some of these real-world challenges by developing high-performance quantum, biointerfacing & light-harvesting molecular systems as a new platform to control light-matter interactions and cell-material interfacing, while translating these effects into quantum-enhanced functions such as quantum biosensing, light-regulated biocatalysis and biomolecular condensation that can enable phototherapeutic cell-modulation and new cancer phototherapy. His topics will also include wiring light-harvesting nanomaterials with naturally occurring photosynthetic cells, driving transformations in sustainable enzymatic synthesis of biomass and liquid fuels.

Yuping Shi, Dphil (Oxon)

Dr. Yuping Shi studied PhD at Oxford University, with his thesis working on photoalignment and spatial patterning technology of organic semiconductors in optoelectronic and integrated devices. He continued his postdoctoral research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) using ultrafast time-resolved and quantum-light spectroscopy to investigate excited-state dynamics and quantum phenomena in both synthetic large molecular systems and native light-harvesting protein complexes. He is currently a Max Planck Research Fellow in Germany and focuses on the development and application of novel quantum polymer nanomaterials for innovative photobiocatalysis and quantum biosensing. Overall, Dr. Shi’s expertise is highly interdisciplinary, bridging organic semiconductors, quantum technology, bio-inspired energy systems, nanoelectronics, ultrafast spectroscopy, photobiocatalysis, and medical light therapy.