Molecular and Cellular Engineering

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Theme Co-ordinator

Prof Mo YANG

This thematic research area aims to apply engineering principles and tools to study the fundamental problems in cellular and molecular scales, enabling the understanding of cellular behavior from molecular-level interactions, elucidating of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying a broad spectrum of diseases, and tackling the human health-related challenges. We are dedicated to research fields involving cellular mechanics, cell micro-environment, cellular electrophysiology, biomaterials, nanotechnology for theranostics, imaging-guided stem cell therapy, and regenerative medicine.
The specific research areas are listed below:

To study the influence of mechanical forces on gene expression by changing nuclear mechanics and epigenetics with applications in cancer, stem cells, and immune responses. To identify and to understand the niche factors that govern stem cells fate, and drive them towards osteoblastic and/or chondrogenic lineages for tissue repair. To study ion channels in reproductive, airway and bone health and diseases, and in particular the development of ion channels into molecular targets for biomedical engineering approaches in the diagnosis/treatment of related human diseases. To develop microscale and nanoscale technologies with the ultimate goal of generating tissue-engineered organs and controlling cell behaviors for addressing clinical problems. To develop nanoparticle based theranostics (therapeutic diagnostics) capable of imaging, drug delivery and monitoring the therapeutic responses in single platform, enabling targeted cancer therapy and stem cell tracking.

Faculty members in this research area:

Dr Thomas Lee
Dr Youhua Tan
Dr Chunyi Wen
Prof Mo Yang
Dr. Sharon Y.C. RUAN
Dr. Xin ZHAO