About

Professor Minglin Ma received his B.S. degree from Tsinghua University in 2003 and his Ph.D. from the laboratory of Professor Gregory Rutledge at MIT in 2008, both in Chemical Engineering. After completing his Ph.D., he worked at the General Electric Global Research Center before returning to MIT in 2009 for postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Professors Robert Langer and Daniel Anderson. In 2013, he joined the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University as a faculty member. Professor Ma's research focuses on advancing cell replacement therapies for type 1 diabetes and the translation of biomaterial research. His contributions to the field have been recognized by his induction into the 2023 College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for outstanding contributions in these areas. Additionally, he received a Hartwell Foundation Individual Biomedical Research Award in 2016, highlighting his impactful work in biomedical research.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Nanotechnology
• Materials science
• Biomedical engineering
• Endocrinology
• Computer Science
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Composite material
• Internal medicine
• Biophysics
• Pharmacology
• Polymer chemistry
• Surgery

Selected publications

• Parametric optimization of sunken courtyard geometry in cold region based on year-round microclimate

  Energy and Buildings · 2025-08-08 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Wilms tumor 1 associated protein (WTAP) inhibits inflammation provoked by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in microglial BV-2 cells and promotes differentiation of neural stem/progenitor cells into neurons by elevating expression of HMGN3 protein resulted from modulation of m6A methylation of its RNA

  Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine · 2025-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• A continuously oxygenated macroencapsulation system enables high-density packing and delivery of insulin-secreting cells

  Nature Communications · 2025-08-11 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The encapsulation of insulin-secreting cells offers a promising strategy for curative treatment of type 1 diabetes without immunosuppression. However, insufficient oxygen within encapsulation systems remains a major challenge, restricting cell survival, function, and scalability. Here, we report an encapsulation platform combining a miniaturized implantable electrochemical oxygen generator (iEOG) with a scalable, linear cell pouch designed for minimally invasive implantation and retrieval. This system enables continuous oxygen supply via electrolysis of tissue moisture, supporting high-density cell encapsulation (60,000 IEQ/mL). Oxygen generated by our system was stable, controllable, and sufficient to maintain cell viability and function under hypoxic (1% O₂) conditions in vitro. In an allogeneic rat model, the oxygenated system implanted subcutaneously reversed diabetes for up to three months without immunosuppression, while non-oxygenated controls remained hyperglycemic. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of sustained oxygenation to enable functional, high-density islet encapsulation in subcutaneous sites, advancing the development of clinically translatable cell-based therapies. Insufficient oxygen limits the efficacy of cell encapsulation therapies for type 1 diabetes. Here, the authors develop an implantable system that continuously generates oxygen to support high-density islet cell survival and function, enabling diabetes reversal in rats without immunosuppression.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cooling Performance of Vaccine Refrigerator Made of Perforated Rigid Polyurethane Vacuum Insulation Panels

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• A Continuously Oxygenated Macroencapsulation System Enables High-Density Packing and Delivery of Insulin-Secreting Cells

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-04-24

  preprintOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract The encapsulation of insulin-secreting cells within immuno-protective systems holds significant promise for curative treatment of type 1 diabetes without immunosuppression. A major challenge, however, remains the inadequate oxygen tension within the encapsulation systems, which compromises the survival and function of encapsulated cells and necessitates low packing density and impractically large systems to deliver a curative cell mass. In this study, we present a novel cell encapsulation system capable of generating oxygen via the electrolysis of tissue moisture to provide a continuous oxygen supply to densely packed insulin-secreting cells. Our system comprises a miniaturized implantable electrochemical oxygen generator (iEOG) and a scalable cylindrical cell encapsulation pouch, designed in a linear configuration to facilitate minimally invasive implantation and retrieval. The oxygen generation from the system was shown to be precisely controlled, stable, and capable of supporting clinically relevant doses of pancreatic islets. In vitro studies demonstrated that the oxygenated system effectively maintained the viability and function of insulinoma cell aggregates and human pancreatic islets at densities of 60,000 islet equivalents per mL (IEQ/mL) or 4,200 IEQ/cm² under a hypoxic cell culture condition (1% O ). In an allogeneic rat model, the oxygenated systems containing pancreatic islets implanted into the poorly vascularized but clinically attractive subcutaneous space at a density of 60,000 IEQ/mL successfully reversed diabetes for up to about 3 months without the need for immunosuppression, while animals implanted with non-oxygenated systems remained diabetic. Most (∼ 90%) of the pancreatic islets encapsulated in the continuously oxygenated systems were found viable and functional upon retrieval. These findings suggest the feasibility of using continuous oxygenation to support insulin-secreting cells at high loading densities in subcutaneous space, enabling the development of an encapsulation system with clinically practical dimensions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Targeting Mitochondrial Quality Control for the Treatment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: From Molecular Mechanisms to Precision Therapy

  Biomolecules · 2025-07-05 · 3 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Breast cancer is the leading threat to the health of women, with a rising global incidence linked to social and psychological factors. Among its subtypes, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which lacks estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression, is highly heterogeneous with early metastasis and a poor prognosis, making it the most challenging subtype. Mounting evidence shows that the mitochondrial quality control (MQC) system is vital for maintaining cellular homeostasis. Dysfunction of the MQC is tied to tumor cell invasiveness, metastasis, and chemoresistance. This paper comprehensively reviews the molecular link between MQC and TNBC development. We focused on how abnormal MQC affects TNBC progression by influencing chemoresistance, immune evasion, metastasis, and cancer stemness. On the basis of current studies, new TNBC treatment strategies targeting key MQC nodes have been proposed. These findings increase the understanding of TNBC pathogenesis and offer a theoretical basis for overcoming treatment challenges, providing new research angles and intervention targets for effective precision therapy for TNBC.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Parametric Optimization of Sunken Courtyard Geometry in Cold Region Based on Year-Round Microclimate

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Game theory-based MPC control strategy for path following of reconfigurable unmanned ground vehicle: A multi-agent control method

  Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part D Journal of Automobile Engineering · 2025-02-19 · 4 citations

  article

  The reconfigurable vehicle (RV) can assemble and disassemble, which is an innovation to the traditional fixed configuration vehicle. The authors propose a concept of reconfigurable unmanned ground vehicle (RUGV), which consists of maneuvering modules (MM) and functional modules (FM) and can greatly broaden civilian unmanned vehicle application scenarios. The reconfiguration of RUGV is not only the connection of the mechanical system but also the control system. The traditional control strategy can not meet the variety of control systems and actuator topology resulting from reconfiguration, so it is necessary to research the reconfiguration control technology of the RV. Since the path tracking problem is a hot issue in the unmanned vehicle field, this paper investigates the reconfiguration control problem in path tracking. To this end, this paper proposes a reconfigurable platform of RUGV, which is composed of single-axle and two-wheel configuration MM called cell unit (CU). To express the different configurations of RUGV, a universal dynamic model (UDM) of RUGV is developed by a vectorized modeling approach. Based on this model, a game theory-based model predictive control (GMPC) path tracking controller is designed, whose sub-GMPC optimization problem is solved by Nash equilibrium game strategy. Numerous simulations are carried out to verify and compare the proposed strategy. The simulation results show that the GMPC can handle RUGV path tracking and speed tracking simultaneously and can also optimize lateral dynamics stability. By comparing with the holistic model predictive control (HMPC) strategy, the GMPC method has almost the same control performance but a shorter average single-step compute time. The proposed strategy also features greater flexibility in RUGV actuators’ topology changes as well as robustness against actuators’ faults.

  PublisherDOI

• Light‐Responsive Enzyme‐Loaded Nanoparticles for Tunable Adhesion and Mechanical Wound Contraction

  Advanced Functional Materials · 2025-10-06

  article

  Abstract Tissue adhesives have emerged as minimally invasive tools for wound closure and the secure attachment of biomaterials to tissue surfaces. However, the development of on‐demand, tunable adhesives remains limited, restricting their adaptability to dynamic and complex tissue interfaces. In this study, a spatiotemporally light‐responsive and synergistic system: photoactivatable tyrosinase‐loaded mesoporous polydopamine nanoparticles (MPDA_PaTy) is presented. Upon ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, MPDA_PaTy enables precise modulation of adhesive strength, achieving up to 3.7‐fold enhancement with increasing irradiation time. This tunability facilitates effective tissue adhesion for in vivo wound closure in mouse incision models and enhances the mechanical contraction of circular wounds by anchoring pre‐stretched hydrogels, as demonstrated in both ex vivo and in vivo models. Finite‐element modeling further confirms the hydrogel's wound‐contraction capability. These results demonstrate that MPDA_PaTy is a versatile, tunable bioadhesive with significant potential for advanced tissue engineering applications.

  PublisherDOI

• Rapid generation of functional vascular organoids via simultaneous transcription factor activation of endothelial and mural lineages

  Cell stem cell · 2025-06-13 · 35 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Organogenesis in microcapsules: developing an efficient and scalable organoid culture platform

  NIH · $72k · 2015–2018

• Vascular networks genetically engineered for protein drug delivery

  NIH · $4.8M · 2015–2026

• Organogenesis in microcapsules: developing an efficient and scalable organoid culture platform

  NIH · $72k · 2015–2017

• Engineering an Islet Thread from zwitterionically modified alginates for type 1 diabetes

  NIH · $390k · 2018–2023

• Engineering an Islet Thread from zwitterionically modified alginates for type 1 diabetes

  NIH · $1.6M · 2018–2025

Frequent coauthors

• Daniel G. Anderson

  Boston Children's Hospital

  76 shared

• Róbert Langer

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  50 shared

• Arturo J. Vegas

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  37 shared

• Alan Chiu

  Cornell University

  37 shared

• Joshua C. Doloff

  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  32 shared

• Juan M. Melero‐Martin

  Boston Children's Hospital

  27 shared

• Gregory C. Rutledge

  27 shared

• Long‐Hai Wang

  University of Science and Technology of China

  25 shared

Labs

• The Biomaterials and Cell Therapy LaboratoryPI

Education

• B.S., Chemical Engineering

  Tsinghua University

• Ph.D., Chemical Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)