Weiqiang Chen elected as Fellow of the American Heart Association

Weiqiang Chen, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, has been elected as a Fellow of the American Heart Association. Conferred by one of the world’s preeminent organizations of cardiovascular and stroke professionals, the FAHA is recognition “for excellence, innovative and sustained contributions in the areas of scholarship, practice and/or education, and volunteer service within the AHA/ASA.”

Chen’s research interests focus on Lab-on-a-Chip, Organ-on-Chip, biomaterials, mechanobiology, stem cell biology, cancer biology, systems immunology, and applying microfabrication technology to illuminate biological systems at both the molecular and cellular levels, among other topics.

Part of his research examines the intricate world of cellular mechanics, investigating how cells respond and adapt in the face of disease. In collaboration with colleagues at the NYU School of Medicine, he has employed cutting-edge ultrasound tweezers systems to conduct a thorough analysis of individual vascular smooth muscle cells in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Their groundbreaking approach utilized cellular biophysical dynamics to not only understand the physiological differences between healthy and diseased cells, but predict the progression of AAA and assess potential drug effectiveness.

They also applied their technique to distinguish between healthy and type II diabetic vascular smooth muscle cells, and are unraveling the mechanical dynamics of how CAR T-cells induce cancer cell death, with the ultimate goal of enhancing the efficiency of immunotherapy. The research marks a significant stride towards transformative healthcare solutions, for cardiovascular disease and beyond.

Chen received his B.S. in Physics from Nanjing University in 2005, M.S. degrees from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2008 and Purdue University in 2009, both in Electrical Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2014. In addition to his new status as Fellow, Chen is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a council member of the Biomedical Engineering Society Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Special Interest Group (BMES CMBE-SIG) (2023-2026), and a standing member of the NIH Study Section on Cellular and Molecular Technologies (2022-2026).