Research Fellow

Dr. Chen is currently an EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) from 2012 to 2016, and his master’s degree from Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen (HITsz) in January 2019. During his master’s studies, his research focused on the development of microfluidic chips for single-cell manipulation. From February 2019 to May 2021, he worked as a research assistant at HITsz and Peking University. He then pursued his PhD at Wageningen University & Research from June 2021 to October 2025, where his research centered on the construction of synthetic cells in microfluidic systems. His current research investigates protein phase transitions under microconfinement.

Publications

A modular platform for surface-bound biosensing: SpyCatcher-Mediated functionalization of antifouling polypeptide brushes on gold and polystyrene.
C Zheng, Z Hussain, A de Souza, C Chen, W van Slooten, S Deshpande, Z Zhang, H Zuilhof, R de Vries
Biosensors and Bioelectronics
(2025)
294
Condensate-based shells and scaffolds via interfacial liquid-to-solid transition of disordered peptides
C Chen, Q Wang, N Jarnot, I Dijkgraaf, S Deshpande
(2025)
Flexible Mechanoporation Chips for High-Throughput Intracellular Delivery Based on Controlled Pneumatic Microvalve Array.
J Qu, S Wang, C Chen, Y Zhang, S Lai, R Gu, W Xie, Y Feng, J Lang, J Huang, C Xiong
ACS nano
(2025)
19
Regulating Biocondensates within Synthetic Cells via Segregative Phase Separation
C Chen, CM Love, CF Carnahan, KA Ganar, AN Parikh, S Deshpande
ACS nano
(2025)
19
Understanding the Stability of Poorly Covered Pickering Emulsions Using on‐Chip Microfluidics
X Shen, C Chen, B van der Meer, TE Kodger, U Sen, S Deshpande, J van der Gucht
Advanced Science
(2025)
12
One-step antifouling coating of polystyrene using engineered polypeptides.
C Zheng, Z Hussain, C Chen, RJ de Haas, S Deshpande, Z Zhang, H Zuilhof, R de Vries
J Colloid Interface Sci
(2025)
685
Phase separation and ageing of glycine-rich protein from tick adhesive.
KA Ganar, M Nandy, P Turbina, C Chen, D Suylen, E Nihoul, EL Pascoe, S van der Beelen, M Plaum, L van den Bos, CJM Koenraadt, I Dijkgraaf, S Deshpande
Nature chemistry
(2024)
17
Elastin-like polypeptide coacervates as reversibly triggerable compartments for synthetic cells
C Chen, KA Ganar, RJ de Haas, N Jarnot, E Hogeveen, R de Vries, S Deshpande
Communications chemistry
(2024)
7
A tempo-spatial controllable microfluidic shear-stress generator for in-vitro mimicking of the thrombus
Z Yu, Y Chen, J Li, C Chen, H Lu, S Chen, T Zhang, T Guo, Y Zhu, J Jin, S Yan, H Chen
Journal of Nanobiotechnology
(2024)
22
Interface‐Driven Spontaneous Differentiation‐Repulsion Behavior in Isochemical Droplet Populations
N Appelman, C Chen, I Gruppen, S Deshpande
Advanced Materials Interfaces
(2024)
11

Postdoctoral researcher

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