Dr. Shu Chien stands as a preeminent leader in the field of biomedical engineering whose visionary leadership has shaped academic programs and research directions for decades. He currently holds the prestigious Y.C. Fung Endowed Chair in Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego where he has served since 1988 and established himself as a transformative academic leader. As the founding chair of UCSD's Department of Bioengineering in 1994 he built one of the nation's top bioengineering programs through strategic vision and collaborative partnerships. Dr. Chien previously served as a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at Columbia University from 1969 to 1988 before transitioning to his influential role at UCSD where he continues to drive innovation at the intersection of engineering and medicine.
Dr. Chien's pioneering research on how blood flow regulates interactions between the bloodstream blood cells and artery walls has revolutionized understanding of cardiovascular physiology and generated insights applicable to stem cells and cancer cells. His multidisciplinary approach combines engineering principles with biomedical sciences to investigate how mechanical forces signal gene expression influencing cell growth migration and death at the molecular level. Employing advanced technologies including nanotechnology DNA microarray bioinformatics cell biophysics and biomechanics his work has established foundational knowledge in cardiovascular mechanobiology. This research has catalyzed new approaches to understanding disease mechanisms and developing potential therapeutic interventions that address the physical forces influencing cellular behavior in health and disease.
As the founding Director of UC San Diego's Institute of Engineering in Medicine since 2008 Dr. Chien has fostered extensive collaborations among faculty research institutes and biomedical companies throughout the San Diego region. His exceptional contributions have been recognized with the highest honors including the US National Medal of Science awarded by President Obama in 2011 the Roger Revelle Medal from UC San Diego and Taiwan's Presidential Science Prize. Dr. Chien's distinguished membership in the National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences underscores his profound impact across multiple scientific disciplines. Through his leadership in establishing the UC Systemwide Bioengineering Institute and receiving the Whitaker Foundation Development and Leadership Awards he continues to shape the future of biomedical engineering education and research while mentoring the next generation of scientists who will advance the field's translational potential.
