Education

• PhD. University of Cambridge, UK.
• BEng (First Class Hon). NUS.

Research Interest

1. Human disease biomechanics & mechanobiology
2. Microfluidic technologies for diagnosis and precision therapy
3. 2D materials for biomedical applications
4. Flexible and wearable technologies

Technopreneurship & Startups

1. Co-founder, Microtube Technologies
2. Co-founder, Flexosense
3. Co-founder, Clearbridge mFluidics
4. Co-founder, Clearbridge NanoMedics
5. Co-founder, Biolidics Ltd (previously known as Clearbridge BioMedics)
6. Co-founder and Affiliated Partner, Clearbridge Accelerator
7. Co-founder, Robust Dynamics

Selected Awards & Honours

1. Highly Cited Researcher 2019
2. IP Champion, IPOS-WIPO IP Awards 2019
3. Highly Cited Researcher 2018
4. HFSP Award 2018
5. Most Innovative Award, Engineering Medical Innovation Global Competition, 2017
6. Winner, IDTechEx Launchpad, Berlin, Germany, 2017
7. NUSS Professor, 2017 to present
8. International Precision Medicine Conference (IPMC) Prize 2017
9. Winner, Modern Aging Singapore 2016
10. ASEAN Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award 2016
11. 14 Inspiring Innovators From Asia, Asian Scientist, 2016
12. Elected Fellow, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering
13. IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2016
14. JT Award, TechPlanter Singapore, 2016
15. Seven Singaporean Scientists to Watch, Asian Scientist, 2016
16. Asian Scientist Top 100 List 2016
17. Elected Fellow, American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering
18. Elected Fellow, Academy of Engineering, Singapore
19. Vladimir K. Zworykin Award, International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering 2015
20. Provost’s Chair Professorship, 2014 – 2017
21. Outstanding Researcher Award, NUS University Awards 2014
22. Outstanding Innovator Award, NUS Innovation & Enterprise Awards 2014
23. TIE50 Award, TIEcon 2014
24. Credit Suisse Technopreneur of the Year Award 2012
25. Wall Street Journal Asian Innovation Audience Choice Awards 2012
26. Gold, Wall Street Journal Asian Innovation Awards 2012
27. TechVenture Most Disruptive Technology Award 2012
28. First Prize, Asian Entrepreneurship Award 2012
29. InnovFest Promising Start-Up Award 2012
30. HFSP Award 2012
31. NGS Excellent Mentoring Award 2011/2012.
32. Rising Star Innovator Award, TechVenture 2011
33. President’s Technology Award 2011
34. Faculty Research Award 2011
35. Elected Council Member, World Council of Biomechanics 2010 – present
36. Most Cited Article, Acta Biomaterialia, 2006 – 2010
37. IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2010
38. Most Cited Author 2005-2008, Acta Biomaterialia
39. Cited in MIT Technology Review: 10 Emerging Technologies and their impact, 2006
40. MRS Outstanding Paper Award, MRS Fall Meeting 2004

Refer to my website for more details.

Membership in Scientific/Professional Organization

• Fellow, Singapore Academy of Science
• Fellow, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering
• Fellow, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering
• Fellow, Academy of Engineering, Singapore
• Council Member, World Council of Biomechanics
• Council Board Member, World Association for Chinese Biomedical Engineers
• Executive Member, Biomedical Engineering Society, Singapore
• Executive Committee Member, Global Enterprise on Micro Mechanics & Molecular Medicine (GEM4)
• Associate Editor and Editorial Board Member of 20 international journals

Selected Journal Publications

1. Doss, B L et al, Cell response to substrate rigidity is regulated by active and passive cytoskeletal stress, PNAS, 2020. (in press)
2. Jain, S et al, The role of single cell mechanical behavior and polarity in driving collective cell migration, Nature Physics, 2020. (in press)
3. Sun, A X Y, et al,  Potassium channel dysfunction in human neuronal models of Angelman syndrome, Science, 366, 6472, 1486-1492, 2019.
4. Lim, S B et al, Addressing cellular heterogeneity in tumor and circulation for refined prognostication, PNAS, 116, 36, 17957-17962, 2019.
5. Xi, W et al, Material Approaches to Active Tissue Mechanics, Nature Reviews Materials, 4, 23–44, 2019.
6. Ding, X G et al, Defect Engineered Bioactive Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Quantum Dots, Nature Communications, 10, 41, 2019.
7. Saw, T B, W Xi, B Ladoux, C T Lim, Biological tissues as active nematic liquid crystals, Advanced Materials, 30, 47, 2018.
8. Chaudhuri, P K et al, Mechanobiology of Tumor Growth, Chemical Reviews, 118, 14, 6499-6515, 2018. (F1000 recommended as being of special significance)
9. Sun, S Y et al, Flagellum couples cell shape to motility in Trypanosoma brucei, PNAS, 201722618, 2018.
10. Sreekanth, K V et al, Biosensing with the singular phase of an ultrathin metal-dielectric nanophotonic cavity, Nature Communications, 9, 369, 2018.
11. Khoo, B L et al, Expansion of patient-derived circulating tumor cells from liquid biopsies using a CTC microfluidic culture device, Nature Protocols, 13, 34-58, 2018.
12. Kenry et al, When stem cells meet graphene: Opportunities and challenges in regenerative medicine, Biomaterials, 155, 236-250, 2018.
13. Lim, S B et al, An extracellular matrix-related prognostic and predictive indicator for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer, Nature Communications, 8, 1734, 2017.
14. Xi, W et al., Soft tubular microfluidics for 2D and 3D applications, PNAS, 114, 40, 10590–10595, 2017.
15. Saw, T B et al, Topological defects in epithelia govern cell death and extrusion, Nature, 544, 212-216, 2017.
16. Khoo, B L et al, Liquid biopsy and therapeutic response: Circulating tumor cell cultures for evaluation of anticancer treatment. Science Advances, 2, 7, e1600274, 2016.
17. Yeo, J C et al, Flexible and stretchable strain sensing actuator for wearable soft robotics application, Advanced Materials Technologies, 1, 3, 2016.
18. Yeo, T et al, Microfluidic enrichment for the single cell analysis of circulating tumor cells, Scientific Reports, 6, 22076, 2016.
19. Warkiani, M E, et al, Ultra-fast, label-free isolation of circulating tumor cells from blood using spiral microfluidics, Nature Protocols, 14, 1, 128-37, 2016.
20. Wang, J et al, Haem-activated promiscuous targeting of artemisinin in Plasmodium falciparum, Nature Communications, 6, 10111, 2015.
21. Gupta, M et al, Adaptive rheology and ordering of cell cytoskeleton govern matrix rigidity sensing, Nature Communications, 6, 7525, 2015.
22. Vedula, S R K et al, Mechanics of epithelial closure over non-adherent environments, Nature Communications, 6, 6111, 2015.
23. Lee, W C et al, Multivariate biophysical markers predictive of mesenchymal stromal cell multi potency, PNAS, 111, 42, E4409-18, 2014.
24. Yao, M et al, Force-dependent conformational switch of a-catenin controls vinculin binding, Nature Communications, 5, 4525, 2014.
25. Vedula, S R K et al, Epithelial bridges maintain tissue integrity during collective cell migration, Nature Materials, 13, 87-96, 2014.
26. Hou H W et al, Isolation and retrieval of circulating tumor cells using centrifugal forces, Scientific Reports, 3, 1259, 2013.
27. Thiery, J P, C T Lim, Tumor dissemination: An EMT affair, Cancer Cell, 23, 3, 272-273, 2013.
28. Vedula, S R K et al, Emerging modes of collective cell migration induced by geometrical constraints, PNAS, 109, 32, 12974-12979, 2012. (F1000 recommended as being of special significance)
29. Lee, W C et al, The origin of enhanced stem cell growth and differentiation on graphene and graphene oxide, ACS Nano, 5, 9, 7334-7341, 2011.