Dr Jiao Jiao Li FRSN FRSB is a biomedical engineer and Senior Lecturer at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Faculty of Engineering and IT. Her research in regenerative medicine focuses on developing combinational approaches including stem cells and bioactive materials to treat chronic diseases, particularly bone and joint disorders. Dr Li received her PhD from the University of Sydney, where she was trained in tissue engineering and biomaterial scaffolds for regenerating bone and cartilage tissues. She then moved to the Kolling Institute on a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship, where she investigated regenerative approaches for treating osteoarthritis, including the use of stem cells and their derived products. In 2020, Dr Li started a research program and a team at UTS which uses multidisciplinary strategies to pioneer therapies for joint diseases. Recent national recognitions of her work include the Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science, Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research, Premier’s Prize for NSW Early Career Researcher of the Year, and NSW Young Tall Poppy of the Year.
Research
Joint diseases, such as osteoarthritis, are the leading cause of disability and unhealthy aging, affecting 600 million people globally. In Australia, these diseases account for 13% of the total disease burden amounting to $14 billion in direct healthcare costs. Current treatments focus on pain relief rather than a cure, driving an urgent need for innovative therapies that can offer long-term solutions. Joint diseases and their treatments, despite their huge impact on quality of life and the economy, still pose a severe unmet need and remain an under-investigated realm of research.
With her vision of developing new solutions to help people age healthily without pain, the Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship will fund Dr Li’s research in regenerative medicine that combines therapeutic discovery, delivery, and testing for joint diseases into a single pipeline. Drawing from the knowledge and techniques in stem cell biology, materials science, nanotechnology, biofabrication and AI, this program seeks to develop translation-ready products that can transform our understanding and treatment of joint diseases. With the Foundation’s support, Dr Li’s research will harness stem cells as ‘bio-factories’ to produce a suite of bio-therapeutics with the ability to provide customisable anti-inflammatory and pro-healing functions in joint diseases. Concurrently, new hydrogel materials will be developed to controllably deliver these therapeutics into patients, and new models of human mini-joints will be created to help better understand disease mechanisms and to test the treatment effects of new therapeutics. This combinational strategy seeks to provide new solutions for people suffering from joint diseases, improve their quality of life, and reduce the staggering socioeconomic impacts of associated disability and healthcare costs.
.