Affiliation: The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Medicine

Dr. Yunfeng Chen is a MERU (Medolago-Ruggeri) Foundation post-doctoral fellow and an American Heart Association postdoctoral awardee. His research is on the mechanobiology of the vascular system. By studying the molecular mechanisms of platelet adhesion and mechanosensing, he investigates how platelet physiology and pathology are regulated by the mechanical force of the blood flow, and how biomechanical defects of platelets are associated with vascular diseases like arterial thrombosis and atherosclerosis. A cutting-edge force spectroscopy method, Biomembrane Force Probe, is used to characterize the binding kinetics, conformational dynamics and activation of molecules at the single-molecule level, as well as cell mechanosignaling at the single-cell level. By combining bioengineering approaches with molecular biology and preclinical tests, he aims to find potential ways to modify and correct the biomechanical defects in platelets and plasma proteins, so as to alleviate and even treat vascular diseases, abiding by the concept of ‘vascular mechano-medicine’.