Juewen Liu, University of Waterloo

Research

Aptamers Drug Delivery Dry Eye Diseases Liposomes Selex

Latest papers

High-fidelity nanoflares: design strategies, response mechanisms, and biomedical applications.
Chemical science · 2026
Guanine-Rich DNA Aptamers for Selective Binding to Agarose Hydrogels.
Bioconjugate chemistry · 2026 · senior author
Enzymes, DNAzymes and nanozymes for environmental remediation.
Nanoscale · 2026 · senior author

All 400 publications

Latest funding

Aptamer-functionalized liposomes for targeted delivery of drugs to treat dry eye disease
CIHR · 2026 · Nominated PI
$872,101
NSERC I2I-Phase 1: Commercialization of the Wearable Aptalyzer for Continuous Lactate Monitoring During Exercise: Overcoming the Limitations of Frequent Invasive Blood Testing
NSERC · 2024 · Co-investigator
$125,000
Biosensors and Bionanotechnology
NSERC · 2023 · Principal investigator
$200,000

All 25 grants and awards

From the 150 most recent of 400 publications.

01

High-fidelity nanoflares: design strategies, response mechanisms, and biomedical applications.

Zhou Y, Xu A, Quan K, Lei Y, Zhang X, Liu J, Qing Z

Chemical science2026

DOI: 10.1039/d6sc04006c PMID: 42559276

02

Guanine-Rich DNA Aptamers for Selective Binding to Agarose Hydrogels.

Liu Y, Liu J

Bioconjugate chemistry2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.6c00242 PMID: 42442370

03

Enzymes, DNAzymes and nanozymes for environmental remediation.

Panferov V, Lee JH, Liu J

Nanoscale2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1039/d6nr01540a PMID: 42383317

04

Reconsidering Molecular Docking Practices in Aptamer Research.

Xie Y, Liu J

Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1002/cbic.70481 PMID: 42496030

05

Combining G-Quadruplex and Non-Quadruplex Aptamers with Distinct Thermodynamic Driving Forces for Highly Selective Pb2+ Detection.

Xing X, Xiao Z, Coote LN, Johnson PE, Liu J

ACS sensors2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.6c01404 PMID: 42333838

06

Bionanotechnology at microplastic and nanoplastic interfaces: detection, adsorption and degradation.

Jiang A, Mao W, Dai B, Lee JH, Bai X, Liu J

Nano convergence2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1186/s40580-026-00563-z PMID: 42474870

07

Capture-SELEX-Derived Low-Nanomolar-Affinity Aptamers for Doxorubicin and Inhibition of Cellular Uptake.

Datta M, Fidella C, Coote LN, Zhang X, Wang S, Johnson PE, Liu J

ACS chemical biology2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.6c00452 PMID: 42415621

08

High affinity and selective DNA aptamers for the detection of tobramycin in eye drops.

Zhang X, Chao EHP, Liu Q, Mu X, Zhao B, Wong KY, Johnson PE, Liu J

Biosensors & bioelectronics2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2026.118569 PMID: 41795378

09

Affinity sensors for L-lactate and lactate dehydrogenase.

Li L, Liu J

Analytical methods : advancing methods and applications2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1039/d6ay00304d PMID: 42300832

10

Capture-SELEX derived aptamers for light-up fluorescent detection of carbendazim.

Zhang X, Li Y, Mu X, Liu Q, Liu J

Talanta2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2026.130166 PMID: 42314625

Aptamer-functionalized liposomes for targeted delivery of drugs to treat dry eye disease

Nominated PICIHR2026Project Grant

Principal investigators: Liu, Juewen; Jones, Lyndon William J; Sheardown, Heather D

Keywords: Aptamers; Drug Delivery; Dry Eye Diseases; Liposomes; Selex

$872,101

NSERC I2I-Phase 1: Commercialization of the Wearable Aptalyzer for Continuous Lactate Monitoring During Exercise: Overcoming the Limitations of Frequent Invasive Blood Testing

Co-investigatorNSERC2024Idea to Innovation

Principal investigators: Poudineh, Mahla MP

Keywords: aptamer probe; continuous health monitoring; exercise management; interstitial fluid; lactate; microneedle patch; minimally invasive; wearable sensors

$125,000

Biosensors and Bionanotechnology

Principal investigatorNSERC2023Canada Research Chairs

Principal investigators: Liu, Juewen

Keywords: biosensors; aptamers; drug delivery; biointerfaces; liposomes; SELEX

$200,000

Aptamer-based biosensors for monitoring carbamazepine, a drug with a narrow therapeutic window

Principal investigatorNSERC2023Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Liu, Juewen J

Keywords: aptamers; biosensors; DNA; drugs; SELEX

$48,000

Artificial intelligence aided disease diagnosis using single-round aptamer selection in complex samples

Principal investigatorSSHRC2022New Frontiers in Research Fund - Exploration

Principal investigators: Liu, Juewen

Keywords: aptamers biosensors pattern recognition artificial intelligence machine learning cancer

$125,000

Artificial intelligence aided disease diagnosis using single-round aptamer selection in complex samples

Principal investigatorSSHRC2022New Frontiers in Research Fund - Exploration

Principal investigators: Liu, Juewen

Keywords: aptamers; biosensors; pattern recognition; artificial intelligence; machine learning; cancer

$125,000

Competing ligand assisted aptamers and DNAzymes for nanomaterials

Principal investigatorNSERC2020Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Liu, Juewen

$320,000

Microplastics fingerprinting at the watershed scale: from sources to receivers _x000d_ _x000d_ _x000d_ _x000d_

Co-investigatorNSERC2020Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Van Cappellen, Philippe

$1,000,000

Development of localized surface plasmon resonance biosensor for COVID-19 antibodies in blood_x000d_

Principal investigatorNSERC2020Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Liu, Juewen

$50,000

Hyper-Frequency Viscoelastic Spectroscopy for Advanced Composites and Biomaterials

Co-investigatorNSERC2017Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Zhao, Boxin

$117,714

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Chemistry
Oncology
Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences
Engineering Physics
Chemical Engineering
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Co-authors at University of Waterloo, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Leyla Soleymani

Engineering Physics

1 shared papers, latest 2024

Jonathan Schertzer

Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences

1 shared papers, latest 2024

Lyndon Jones

Chemical Engineering

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Mahla Poudineh

Electrical and Computer Engineering

1 shared papers, latest 2024

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2026

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Aptamers Dear Professor Liu, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "High-fidelity nanoflares: design strategies, response mechanisms, and biomedical applications." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Aptamer-functionalized liposomes for targeted delivery of drugs to treat dry eye disease" (2026), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Juewen Liu

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

High-fidelity nanoflares: design strategies, response mechanisms, and biomedical applications.

Guanine-Rich DNA Aptamers for Selective Binding to Agarose Hydrogels.

Enzymes, DNAzymes and nanozymes for environmental remediation.

Reconsidering Molecular Docking Practices in Aptamer Research.

Combining G-Quadruplex and Non-Quadruplex Aptamers with Distinct Thermodynamic Driving Forces for Highly Selective Pb2+ Detection.

Bionanotechnology at microplastic and nanoplastic interfaces: detection, adsorption and degradation.

Capture-SELEX-Derived Low-Nanomolar-Affinity Aptamers for Doxorubicin and Inhibition of Cellular Uptake.

High affinity and selective DNA aptamers for the detection of tobramycin in eye drops.

Affinity sensors for L-lactate and lactate dehydrogenase.

Capture-SELEX derived aptamers for light-up fluorescent detection of carbendazim.

Aptamer-functionalized liposomes for targeted delivery of drugs to treat dry eye disease

NSERC I2I-Phase 1: Commercialization of the Wearable Aptalyzer for Continuous Lactate Monitoring During Exercise: Overcoming the Limitations of Frequent Invasive Blood Testing

Biosensors and Bionanotechnology

Aptamer-based biosensors for monitoring carbamazepine, a drug with a narrow therapeutic window

Artificial intelligence aided disease diagnosis using single-round aptamer selection in complex samples

Artificial intelligence aided disease diagnosis using single-round aptamer selection in complex samples

Competing ligand assisted aptamers and DNAzymes for nanomaterials

Microplastics fingerprinting at the watershed scale: from sources to receivers _x000d_ _x000d_ _x000d_ _x000d_

Development of localized surface plasmon resonance biosensor for COVID-19 antibodies in blood_x000d_

Hyper-Frequency Viscoelastic Spectroscopy for Advanced Composites and Biomaterials

Frequent collaborators

Leyla Soleymani

Jonathan Schertzer

Lyndon Jones

Hanadi Sleiman

Lyndon Jones

Mahla Poudineh