# Minglin Ma
**Minglin Ma** (马明林) is a biomaterials engineer and professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University whose laboratory develops materials for cell replacement therapies for type 1 diabetes and for agricultural applications.[1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma) His central research problem is how to protect transplanted insulin-producing cells from immune attack without immunosuppressive drugs, a field known as islet encapsulation.[1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma)
| Key facts | |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Biomaterials engineering; cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes[1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma) |
| Position | Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University (assistant professor from 1 July 2013)[1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma) • [2](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9553-7526) |
| Training | BS, Tsinghua University; PhD, MIT Chemical Engineering, 2008, advisor Gregory C. Rutledge[1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma) • [3](https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/45928?show=full) |
| Postdoc and industry | Postdoctoral fellow at the MIT Koch Institute; Lead Scientist at GE Global Research[1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma) |
| Signature work | "A Glucose-Responsive Cannula for Automated and Electronics-Free Insulin Delivery", Advanced Materials, 2024[4](https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202403594) |
| Encapsulation devices | TRAFFIC alginate fiber; NICE nanofibrous device (200 days in mice); zwitterionic polyurethane nanoporous device; oxygenated macroencapsulation system[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5777032/) • [6](https://cals.cornell.edu/news/2021/06/better-implant-device-may-ease-therapy-for-type-1-diabetes) • [7](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8487957/) • [8](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62271-2.pdf) |
| Translation | Co-founder of Persista Bio (2023), preclinical as of October 2025[9](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/10/ithaca-startup-aims-free-diabetes-patients-daily-burden) |
| Honor | Inducted into the AIMBE College of Fellows[10](https://aimbe.org/college-of-fellows/COF-8083/) |
## Career
Ma received his BS and PhD degrees, both in chemical engineering, from [Tsinghua University](https://www.edgepedia.org/tsinghua-university) and MIT respectively; his 2008 MIT dissertation, "Nanostructured electrospun fibers: from superhydrophobicity to block copolymer self-assembly", was supervised by [Gregory C. Rutledge](https://www.edgepedia.org/gregory-c-rutledge), and ORCID records the doctorate as running from 1 September 2003 to 18 September 2008.[1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma) • [3](https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/45928?show=full) • [2](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9553-7526) The dissertation covered superhydrophobic electrospun fibers and internally nanostructured fibers made by [coaxial electrospinning](https://www.edgepedia.org/coaxial-electrospinning) of block copolymers.[3](https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/45928?show=full) Before joining Cornell in 2013 he worked as a Lead Scientist at General Electric Global Research Center and as a postdoctoral fellow at the MIT Koch Institute.[1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma) ORCID dates his Cornell appointment as assistant professor from 1 July 2013; the Cornell faculty page lists him as a full Professor, without a promotion date.[2](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9553-7526) • [1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma)
## Research: islet encapsulation for type 1 diabetes
Ma's group builds devices that physically shield transplanted insulin-producing cells while letting glucose, insulin, oxygen, and nutrients pass through.[1](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma)
**A sequence of devices.** The lab's TRAFFIC design (thread-reinforced alginate fiber for islets encapsulation) forms an alginate hydrogel around a nanoporous, wettable, calcium-releasing polymer thread in a single cross-linking step, making a retrievable, scalable fiber.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5777032/) The 2021 NICE device (nanofiber-integrated cell encapsulation), published in [Science Translational Medicine](https://www.edgepedia.org/science-translational-medicine), kept insulin-secreting cells controlling blood sugar in diabetic mice for up to 200 days without any immunosuppressive drugs; the team worked with stem cell biologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.[6](https://cals.cornell.edu/news/2021/06/better-implant-device-may-ease-therapy-for-type-1-diabetes)
According to a 2021 study in *Advanced Materials*, the zwitterionic polyurethane (ZPU) device is electrospun from medical-grade silicone-polycarbonate-urethane bearing sulfobetaine groups, with nanofibers under about 500 nanometers that prevent cell escape.[7](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8487957/) • [11](https://par.nsf.gov/search/author:%22Ma,%20Minglin%22) The material is hydrophilic and fouling-resistant, and in C57BL/6 mice it induced a much lower foreign-body response for up to six months than the same polyurethane without the zwitterionic modification; encapsulated rodent islets corrected chemically induced diabetes in mice with cells functional up to 200 days, and human stem-cell-derived beta cells reversed diabetes within one week, for up to 120 days in immunodeficient and 60 days in immunocompetent mice.[7](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8487957/) • [11](https://par.nsf.gov/search/author:%22Ma,%20Minglin%22) Its scalability and retrievability were demonstrated in pigs and dogs.[7](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8487957/) An earlier biomimetic scaffold with internal continuous air channels offered 10,000-fold higher oxygen diffusivity than hydrogels, allowing a 6.6 mm-thick device that corrected diabetes in immunocompetent mice using rat islets for over six months.[11](https://par.nsf.gov/search/author:%22Ma,%20Minglin%22)
## Representative work
A glucose-responsive cannula without electronics. The 2024 Advanced Materials paper reports a cannula made from a tough elastomer-hydrogel hybrid membrane formed by a one-pot solvent exchange method; the membrane changes permeability to release insulin rapidly as glucose levels vary, providing automated delivery with no sensors, hardware, or software.[4](https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202403594) In insulin-deficient diabetic mice, an ends-sealed subcutaneous prototype normalized blood glucose for three days and controlled postprandial glucose.[4](https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202403594)
## Translation and industry
In 2023, according to the Cornell Chronicle, Ma co-founded Persista Bio, an Ithaca startup whose lead technology, the O2Line platform, pairs his lab's nanofibrous capsule, which protects implanted insulin-producing cells from immune rejection, with an implantable electrochemical oxygen generator licensed from Giner Inc., and the two teams combined their technologies in 2021.[9](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/10/ithaca-startup-aims-free-diabetes-patients-daily-burden) The company licenses its technology from Cornell and Giner and remained preclinical as of October 2025.[9](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/10/ithaca-startup-aims-free-diabetes-patients-daily-burden)
The underlying device, published in [Nature Communications](https://www.edgepedia.org/nature-communications) in August 2025, combines a miniaturized implantable electrochemical oxygen generator (iEOG) with a scalable linear cell pouch designed for minimally invasive implantation and retrieval; electrolysis of tissue moisture supplies oxygen continuously, supporting cell packing at 60,000 IEQ (islet equivalent, a standardized measure of pancreatic islet cell quantity)/mL.[8](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62271-2.pdf) In an allogeneic rat model, the subcutaneously implanted oxygenated system reversed diabetes for up to three months without immunosuppression, while non-oxygenated controls remained hyperglycemic.[8](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62271-2.pdf) Cornell describes the implant as a cylindrical capsule with a ring-shaped cell compartment and a removable, dime-sized oxygen generator, with a nanofibrous membrane outside the capsule shielding the cells; the stated next steps are pig-model implantation and testing with human stem cells.[12](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/08/implant-treats-type-1-diabetes-oxygenating-insulin-producing-cells)
## Funding and honors
The encapsulation work has been supported by the [American Diabetes Association](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-diabetes-association) (Grant 7-13-JF-42), the 3M Company, Novo Nordisk A/S, the Cornell Technology Acceleration and Maturation Fund, the Cornell Stem Cell Program Seed Fund, the Hartwell Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and Breakthrough T1D.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5777032/) • [12](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/08/implant-treats-type-1-diabetes-oxygenating-insulin-producing-cells) Persista Bio received a $2.1 million Direct-to-Phase II SBIR grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for scale-up to large animal models, minipig validation, and GMP manufacturing.[9](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/10/ithaca-startup-aims-free-diabetes-patients-daily-burden) The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering inducted Ma, then Associate Professor at Cornell, into its College of Fellows.[10](https://aimbe.org/college-of-fellows/COF-8083/)
## Recent developments
Two 2024 papers extended the lab beyond islet encapsulation. The Nature Sustainability paper (5 September 2024) showed that ingestible [hydrogel microparticles](https://www.edgepedia.org/hydrogel-microparticles) capture neonicotinoids in the bee gastrointestinal tract; under lethal imidacloprid exposure, treated bumblebees showed a 30% increase in survival, and after a sublethal 5 ng dose the treatment improved feeding motivation and produced a 44% increase in bees engaging in locomotor activity.[13](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01432-5) • [2](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9553-7526) The glucose-responsive cannula appeared in Advanced Materials in July 2024.[4](https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202403594) In 2025 came the continuously oxygenated macroencapsulation system in Nature Communications and the founding-stage progress of Persista Bio with its NIDDK grant.[8](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62271-2.pdf) • [9](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/10/ithaca-startup-aims-free-diabetes-patients-daily-burden) A June 2026 preprint, "Miniaturized subcutaneous cellular implants for sustained therapeutic protein delivery in resource-limited settings", extends the implant concept to therapeutic protein delivery.[2](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9553-7526)
## References
1. [Minglin Ma | CALS, Cornell University](https://cals.cornell.edu/people/minglin-ma)
2. [Minglin Ma (0000-0002-9553-7526) - ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9553-7526)
3. [Nanostructured electrospun fibers (MIT DSpace dissertation record)](https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/45928?show=full)
4. [A Glucose-Responsive Cannula for Automated and Electronics-Free Insulin Delivery (Advanced Materials, 2024)](https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202403594)
5. [Designing a retrievable and scalable cell encapsulation device (TRAFFIC)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5777032/)
6. [Better implant device may ease therapy for Type 1 diabetes | CALS](https://cals.cornell.edu/news/2021/06/better-implant-device-may-ease-therapy-for-type-1-diabetes)
7. [A Zwitterionic Polyurethane Nanoporous Device with Low Foreign-Body Response for Islet Encapsulation (Advanced Materials, 2021)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8487957/)
8. [A continuously oxygenated macroencapsulation system (Nature Communications, 2025)](https://preview-www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62271-2.pdf)
9. [Ithaca startup aims to free diabetes patients from daily burden (Cornell Chronicle, October 2025)](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/10/ithaca-startup-aims-free-diabetes-patients-daily-burden)
10. [Minglin Ma, Ph.D. COF-8083 - AIMBE](https://aimbe.org/college-of-fellows/COF-8083/)
11. [NSF Public Access Repository, author: Ma, Minglin](https://par.nsf.gov/search/author:%22Ma,%20Minglin%22)
12. [Implant treats Type 1 diabetes by oxygenating insulin-producing cells (Cornell Chronicle, August 2025)](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/08/implant-treats-type-1-diabetes-oxygenating-insulin-producing-cells)
13. [Ingestible hydrogel microparticles improve bee health after pesticide exposure (Nature Sustainability, 2024)](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01432-5)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Medical and health researchers › Researchers in cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine research › Islet biology and beta cell researchers*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license