Jun Chen

Mechanical forces play essential roles in biology. Measuring and controlling these forces represent emerging strategies for disease diagnosis and therapeutic intervention, to complement more traditional approaches. This review article, published today in Nature Reviews Bioengineering (nature.com/articles/s4422…), summarizes the status of work in this area -- from organisms, organs and tissues to cells and molecules -- and future directions. Check it out if you’d like to learn more about this field of research and translation. Big thanks to my senior co-authors, Prof. @songli_UCLA, Prof. Jun Chen and Prof. Viola Vogel, for their leadership on this piece, to Dr. Min-Seung Jo (postdoc in the group) for his contributions to our sections on sensors and actuators, and to the other co-authors for their roles.

Our Smart Stent made the cover of Nature Cardiovascular Research! Congratulations to the hard work and amazing team work! @JunChenLab @PSWnano @songli_UCLA @UCLAengineering @UCLAHealth

@songli_UCLA @BioEngUCLA @NatureElectron @UCLAengineering Thank you very much, Prof. Li, for your tremendous support over the years!

@JunChenLab @BioEngUCLA @NatureElectron @UCLAengineering Congratulations Jun🎉

Our research published in @NatureElectron is selected to be one of the UCLA Top 25 Bruinventions of the 21st Century! Thank you very much for your tremendous support @UCLAengineering @BioEngUCLA @NatureElectron over the years!

@_SungminNam @NatureElectron @UCLAengineering @BioEngUCLA Thank you so much, Sungmin. Please stay warm in a snowy day.

@JunChenLab @NatureElectron @UCLAengineering @BioEngUCLA Great news!!!

@UCLAchancellor @UCLA It is great to see my research on wearable sign-to-speech system published on @NatureElectron is selected and highlighted.

Bruins continue to invent the future – from life-saving medical advances to world-changing tech. Our latest @UCLA Magazine features the top 25 Bruinventions of the 21st century. #ResearchPowersProgress newsroom.ucla.edu/magazine/top-2…

In the 2025 edition of Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list, @Clarivate included @UCLA @UofCalifornia @BioEngUCLA post-doctoral researcher Yihao Zhou and PhD student Guorui Chen. bioeng.ucla.edu/bioengineering…

@StingelinN Go Yellowjackets😎

💪🏾💪🏿💪🏻💪🏽💪🏼💪🏾💪🏿💪🏻💪🏽💪🏼

@jluoled @HKUniversity @ScienceMagazine You are very welcome.

@HKUniversity @ScienceMagazine Thanks @HKUniversity for the post! Hope our #3Dsemiconductor technology can find potential applications in energy efficient computing, neuroscience research and medicine!

Congratulations to University of Hong Kong Professor Shiming Zhang (@jluoled), whose groundbreaking research on 3D semiconductors just landed on the cover of @ScienceMagazine! A century after Julius Edgar Lilienfeld’s invention of the transistor in 1925, the building blocks of electronics are now measured in nanometres. But with further breakthroughs running into physical and theoretical limits, Professor Zhang had a different idea: what if it was possible to design transistors in three dimensions, which could work like neurons in the human brain? That was easier said than done, however. Finding the answer took over five years of research and thousands of attempts. The key? Solving a hard problem with soft materials. While silicon-based transistors are rigid and two-dimensional, Professor Zhang and his team, which included researchers from HKU and Cambridge, leveraged their experience in biosensors and wearables to develop a world first: 3D hydrogel-based transistors. The potential of these new “chips” is near limitless, says Professor Zhang. Not only could they pave the way for a new generation of semiconductor architecture, but also because they are hydrogel based, they can potentially integrate with biological cells in ways rigid silicon chips never could. Professor Zhang is already looking at potential applications of the technology, including exciting new developments like neuromorphic computing. Current AI chips are resource-intensive, but in theory, biological options could run primarily on glucose. But Professor Zhang also urges caution: pointing to CRISPR as an example, he notes the importance of thinking through the ethics of the development and ensuring that it is used for good. “We need an ethical and regulatory framework,” he says. #HKU #香港大學 #UniversityofHongKong

@Clarivate It is wonderful to see my current postdoc and my PhD student are included on the 2025 Highly Cited Researcher list—though I must admit, it’s quite amusing that I’m not on the list myself. The selection process for this list would certainly benefit from greater transparency.

Did you know? Our #HighlyCited2025 list names 6,868 individuals with 7,131 Highly Cited Researcher awards. For deeper insight, read our 2025 Analysis: ow.ly/Fn5350Xr97G #CitationsMatter

It is great to see my postdoc Dr. Yihao Zhou and PhD student Guorui Chen, included on the 2025 Highly Cited Researcher list—though I must say it’s so entertaining that I’m not on the list myself @Clarivate. Thank you @UCLAengineering @BioEngUCLA so much for the great education!

@profmikeking @creinhartking @CornellBME Both look great!

Visiting Delaware BME and look who I found… Julie (Kohn) Karand… @creinhartking Lab alum and now Associate Professor at UD!

@AntonioFacchet2 Very nice garden, Antonio!

I have been receiving “complains” I do not tweet enough. So, here is a fun thing I did last Sunday. Gardening. It really relaxes me. My dog, Sophia, was of no help! She is 16!

Get to know the winners of the 2025 ACS Nano Lectureship Award! Find out more about them: go.acs.org/d5b

@Biointerface_CU Thank you very much, Prof. Huang!

@JunChenLab Many congratulations Jun!!

The 2025 ACS Nano Lectureship Award was presented by Prof. Xiaodong Chen @ChenXD_NTU_Sg (Editor-in-Chief of ACS Nano @acsnano, right) and Dr. James Milne (President of ACS Publications, left). I deeply appreciate this recognition and the support of my colleagues and friends.

@WeiTaoLab @ChenXD_NTU_Sg @acsnano @PSWnano Thank you very much, Wei.

@JunChenLab @ChenXD_NTU_Sg @acsnano @PSWnano Hearty congrats, Jun!

@_SungminNam @ChenXD_NTU_Sg @acsnano @PSWnano Thank you very much, Sungmin. Wish you all the best in UMich.

@JunChenLab @ChenXD_NTU_Sg @acsnano @PSWnano Congrats!!! Another big award!

@ProfZhaoMIT @ChenXD_NTU_Sg @acsnano @PSWnano Thank you very much, Prof. Zhao.

@JunChenLab @ChenXD_NTU_Sg @acsnano @PSWnano Congratulations!