Faculty Profiles

Chen's research focuses on 3D bioprinting and biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. We explore new knowledge of cell-material interactions in the full range of physical dimensions (from nano- to micro- to meso-scale), time span (from femtoseconds to months), and biological dimensions (from molecular to cellular to tissue). Our group not only investigates the fundamental scientific issues, such as cell interactions with micro and nano-environments, biomaterials science, and biomechanics, but also solves the technological and translational issues associated with tissue/organ repair and regeneration. Press and interviews about his work have appeared in NIH Director’s Blog, NIH Research Matters, NSF News, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, EurekAlert!, The Economic Times, Yahoo News, CNBC News, ABC News, etc. His research has resulted in many patents/provisional patents. Some of them were licensed to companies (e.g. Allegro 3D, Inc.) with significant economic impact.

Capsule Bio:

Shaochen Chen is a Professor and Chair in the Department of NanoEngineering and an Affiliated Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego. He is the founding co-director of the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center at UC San Diego. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 1999 from the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining UC San Diego, Chen had been a Professor and a Pearlie D. Henderson Centennial Endowed Faculty Fellow in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin from 2001 to 2010. Between 2008 and 2010, he served as the Program Director for the Nanomanufacturing Program in the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Chen’s primary research interests include: biomaterials and tissue engineering, 3D printing and bioprinting, stem cell and regenerative medicine, biomaterials and nanomaterials, and organ/tissue-on-a-chip. He has published over 150 papers in top journals and 16 book/book chapters. He is a leading expert in micro- and nanoscale 3D printing and pioneered the development of projection style 3D bioprinting techniques for rapid printing of cell-laden tissue scaffolds. These precise biomimetic scaffolds offer a unique platform for the investigation of cell interactions with microenvironments and the creation of functional human tissue models such as liver, heart, spinal cord, brain, and cancer.

Among his numerous awards, Chen received the CAREER award from NSF, Young Investigator award from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and Edward Nagy New Investigator Award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). As an active member in his professional community, Chen is a Fellow of five major societies including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), and the International Society for NanoManufacturing (ISNM).