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About

Chaonan Zhang is a pioneering researcher at the frontier of medical micro/nanorobotics, with a primary focus on developing biocompatible, cell-based robots for targeted cancer therapy. Her major contributions lie in engineering "macrophage cell robots"—living immune cells transformed through the endocytosis of functionalized iron nanoparticles, enabling precise magnetic control and innate tumor-tropism. This innovative approach overcomes critical limitations of traditional 3D-printed micro/nanorobots, which often struggle with navigation and targeting within complex vascular networks. Her most cited work, "Precise Control of Customized Macrophage Cell Robot for Targeted Therapy of Solid Tumors with Minimal Invasion" (2021), has garnered 89 citations, underscoring its significance in the field. The study demonstrates a minimally invasive strategy for delivering these cell robots directly into blood vessels, where they can be wirelessly steered by magnetic fields to solid tumors. This work, featured as a cover article in *Small*, represents a major step toward the long-sought goal of injectable nanorobots for clinical use. Zhang’s research continues to push the boundaries of field-controlled micro-nano manipulations, offering transformative potential for targeted drug delivery and early disease detection.