Principal Investigator and Professor of Chemistry

Office: room 545 of the chemistry building

orcid: 0000-0003-3042-1247

2003-2007 B.S.         Nanjing University, CN                              Supervisor: Prof. Jianwei Zhao

2007-2010 M.S.        Xiamen Univerisity, CN                              Supervisor: Prof. Yun-Bao Jiang

2010-2015 Ph.D.       Emory University, US                                 Supervisor: Prof. Vincent P. Conticello

2016-2019 Postdoc  University of California, Berkeley, US         Supervisor: Prof. Ting Xu

Since 2026                 Next generation board member of Aggregate (Wiley)      

Since 2025                 Committee member of Nanoanalysis in the Chinese Society for Analyitical Chemistry

Tao grew up in Huaian, Jiangsu province, China. He studied general chemistry in Nanjing and received the training of protein engineering and spectroscopic analysis from Yun Bao in Xiamen. Tao traveled to Atlanta and explored the chemical space of collagen-mimetic peptides for 2D self-assembly under the guidance of Vince. With his Ph.D. in chemistry, Tao moved to Berkely, where he worked in Ting's lab for the rational design of random heteropolymers to mimic protein's functionality. Now in Xiamen, Tao's lab focuses on multicomponent peptide assembly with programmable composition, shape and responsiveness. The team aims to create peptide-based molecular tools to advance the recognition, recording, and manipulation of molecular events at cell surfaces in vitro and in vivo.