Bio

Prof. Wei Tao is the Philip Yeo Chair Professor in Medicine (Tenured Full Professor with Endowed Chair) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS). The Philip Yeo Chair Professorship in Medicine, his second endowed chair appointment in his career, is one of the most prestigious honors at NUS Medicine. Named in tribute to Mr. Philip Yeo, an iconic Singaporean leader, it is a prestigious honor. As the former Chairman of Singapore’s Economic Development Board and A*STAR, Mr. Yeo is widely acknowledged as the founding architect of Singapore’s biomedical sciences industry, and this Chair Professorship was founded specifically to attract the most radical and brilliant brains in the global biomedical field, and support their trailblazing, transformative research work. Before he joined NUS, he was the Farokhzad Family Distinguished Chair in Innovation (his first endowed chair appointment) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School), and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School (HMS). He was inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in March 2025, and elected to the Academia Europaea (The Academy of Europe) in May 2025.

His research interests include biomaterials, nanotechnology and drug delivery, as well as their various applications in translational medicine. He has been named a Global Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate since 2021. He has received multiple awards/grants including the DoD RTRP Investigator-Initiated Research Award, DoD LRP Idea Award, NIH P01, American Heart Association (AHA) Transformational Project Award, American Lung Association (ALA) Courtney Cox Cole Lung Cancer Research Award, AHA Collaborative Sciences Award, ALA Cancer Discovery Award, LEO Foundation Research Grant, Novo Nordisk ValidatioNN Award, American Society of Transplantation (AST) Career Transition Grant (Translational Science), Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) Empowering Lupus Research Administrative Supplement Grant, Harvard Catalyst - Cores Facility Program, Harvard/Brigham Health Technology Innovator Award, Distinguished Chair Professorship Foundation, Anaesthesia Department Basic Scientist Grant, Khoury Innovation Award, Center for Nanomedicine Research Fund, Nanotechnology Foundation, Stepping Strong Breakthrough Innovator Award, AHA's Second Century Early Faculty Independence Award, U.S. METAvivor Early Career Investigator Award, MIT Technology Review Top Chinese Innovators Under 35 (2020 TR35), World's Top 2% Scientist (Year-List since 2019; Career-List since 2023), Chemical Society Reviews (IF 48.3) Emerging Investigator Lectureship Award, Materials Today (IF 24.1) Rising Star Award, Advanced Materials (IF 29.1) Rising Star, ACS Nano (IF 17.3) Lectureship Award, Biomaterials (IF 13.6) Award for Young Investigator, Angewandte Chemie (IF 17.6) Most Outstanding Referees Award, Materials Horizons (IF 11.4) Top 10 Outstanding Reviewers Award, Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award, etc.

He serves on the scientific committee as either an invited award nominator or an invited reviewer for NIH (US), DoD (US), AIMBE, European Research Council, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation), Swiss National Science Foundation (Switzerland), Dutch Research Council (Netherlands), Israel Science Foundation (Israel), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Canada), The Xplorer Prize (China), JDRF (Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, UK), VinFuture Prize (VinFuture Foundation, Vietnam), MIT TR35, etc. He also serves on numerous editorial boards including as Founding Editor-in-Chief of Biomedical Technology (IF 16.4; Elsevier/KeAi), Deputy Editor of Exploration (IF 30.4; Wiley), Associate Editor of Journal of Nanobiotechnology (IF 15; Springer Nature & BMC) and Aggregate (IF 14.5; Wiley); Editor of PNAS (IF 9.5); Guest Editor of eLife, etc.; Senior Editorial Board Member of Materials Today (IF 24.1, Elsevier), Bioactive Materials (IF 23.6; Elsevier, KeAi), Nano-Micro Letters (IF 38.5; Springer Nature), etc.; and Advisory Board Member of Matter (IF 15.7; Cell Press), and Cell Press Blue (Cell Press’s new journal).

See Prof. Tao's interview (together with Prof. Robert Langer/MIT, Prof. Samir Mitragotri/Harvard, Dr. Nicholas Warne/Pfizer, Dr. Steffen Panzner/BioNTech, etc.) in Nature Medicine.

Professional Appointments

2026 - now, Philip Yeo Chair Professor in Medicine | National University of Singapore, Singapore

2026 - now, Professor of Pharmacology (Tenured Full Professor) | National University of Singapore, Singapore

2022 - 2026, Farokhzad Family Distinguished Chair for Innovation (Endowed Chair) | Brigham and Women’s Hospital (teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School), USA

2025 - 2026, Associate Professor of Anaesthesia | Harvard Medical School/Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University, USA

2023 - 2025, Courtney Cox Cole Endowed Investigator | American Lung Association, USA

2020 - 2025, Assistant Professor of Anaesthesia | Harvard Medical School/Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University, USA

2018 - 2020, Instructor in Anaesthesia | Harvard Medical School/Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University, USA

2018 - 2026, Investigator | Brigham and Women’s Hospital (teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School), USA

2016 - 2018, Research Fellow in Anaesthesia | Harvard Medical School/Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University, USA

2016 - 2018, Postdoctoral Fellow | Brigham and Women's Hospital (teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School), USA

List of Research Areas

Biomaterials, RNA Medicine, Drug Delivery, Biomedical Engineering, Nanomedicine.

Grants, Awards & Honors

Induction as a Member of the Academia Europaea (MAE)

ACS Nano Lectureship Award

Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award

DoD Reconstructive Transplant Research Program (RTRP) Investigator-Initiated Research Award (PI)

Induction as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (FAIMBE)

Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) Empowering Lupus Research Administrative Supplement Grant (PI)

DoD Lupus Research Program (LRP) Idea Award (PI)

Highly Ranked Scholar (Top 0.05%) by ScholarGPS (since 2024)

Clarivate’s Global Highly Cited Researcher (Top 1%), Web of Science (since 2021)

World's Top 2% Scientist, published in Mendeley Data from Elsevier (Year-List since 2019; Career-List since 2023)

UNSW RNA Institute Honorary Visiting Professorship

LEO Foundation Research Grant (PI)

NIH P01 (Co-PI)

Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM)

Biomaterials Award for Young Investigator

Harvard Catalyst - Cores Facility Program (PI)

American Society of Transplantation (AST) Career Transition Grant - Translational Science (PI)

Novo Nordisk ValidatioNN Award (PI)

Distinguished Chair Professorship Foundation (PI)

American Lung Association Lung (ALA) Cancer Discovery Award (PI)

ALA Courtney Cox Cole Lung Cancer Research Award (PI)

American Heart Association (AHA) Transformational Project Award (PI)

AHA's Second Century Early Faculty Independence Award (PI)

BWH Health Technology Innovator Award (PI)

Journal of Nanobiotechnology Outstanding Editor Award

Advanced Materials Rising Star

Angewandte Chemie Most Outstanding Referees (Top 10% Reviewers) in 2021, 2022

Materials Today Rising Star Award

Chemical Society Reviews Emerging Investigator Lectureship Award, Royal Society of Chemistry

BWH Nanotechnology Foundation (PI)

Rising Talents Award, Precision Nanomedicine (PRNANO)

Microsoft Academic Top 5 Trending Authors in Nanotechnology (2016-2020), and Top Authors in Nanomedicine

Nanoscale Emerging Investigator Award, Royal Society of Chemistry

MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (2020 TR35 China)

BWH Khoury Innovation Award (PI)

Harvard/BWH Assistant Professor Department Start-Up Package (PI)

BWH Stepping Strong Breakthrough Innovator Award (Co-PI)

Top 10 Outstanding Reviewers in 2019, Materials Horizons

Featured Investigator at the BWH Anaesthesia Department

BWH Center for Nanomedicine Research Fund (PI)

AHA Collaborative Sciences Award (Co-PI)

BWH Anaesthesia Department Basic Science Seed Grant (PI)

US METAvivor Early Career Investigator Award (PI)

Outstanding Reviewer Award, Acta Biomaterialia

Invited Grant Reviewer/Award Nominator (Scientific Committee)

DoD Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program, PRCRP), USA

AIMBE Fellow

National Institutes of Health (NIH Review Branch – Bioengineering, Biodata, and Biomodeling Technologies), USA

DoD Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (Glioblastoma Research Program), USA

DoD Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (Breast Cancer Research Program), USA

European Research Council

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation), Germany

Swiss National Science Foundation, Switzerland

Dutch Research Council, Netherlands

Israel Science Foundation, Israel

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada

The Xplorer Prize, China

JDRF (Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge - Novel Insulins Innovation Incubator Panel), UK

VinFuture Prize, VinFuture Foundation, Vietnam

IAAM Fellow Young Scientist Medal/Scientist Medal

MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (TR35 China/Asia Pacific)

Editorships

Founding Editor-in-Chief, Biomedical Technology(Elsevier/KeAi; IF 16.4)

Deputy Editor (2023 - 2025) /Associate Editor (2021 - 2023), Exploration(Wiley; IF 30.4)

Associate Editor, Aggregate (Wiley; IF 14.5)

Associate Editor, Journal of Nanobiotechnology(Springer Nature/BMC; IF 15)

Editor, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA(PNAS; IF 9.5)

Senior Editorial/Advisory Board Member:

Matter (Cell Press; IF 15.7)

Cell Press Blue (Cell Press’ new journal)

Materials Today (Elsevier; IF 24.1)

Nano-Micro Letters (Springer Nature; IF 38.5)

Bioactive Materials(Elsevier/KeAi; IF 23.6)

Smart Medicine (Wiley; IF 12.8)

Med-X(Springer Nature’s new journal)

Advanced Interventional Materials (Elsevier/KeAi’s new journal)

Nano TransMed(Tsinghua University Press’s new journal)

Guest Editor:

eLife

Bioactive Materials (Elsevier/KeAi; IF 23.6)

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B (Elsevier; IF 14.6)

Journal of Nanobiotechnology (Springer Nature/BMC; IF 15)

Theranostics (IF 14.9)

Communications Chemistry (Springer Nature)

iScience (Cell Press)