Jun Chen, Ph.D.
Seminar Information
The magnetoelastic effect, also known as the Villari effect, describes the modulation of a material’s magnetic state in response to mechanical deformation. Although first discovered in 1865, this phenomenon remained largely confined to rigid metals and alloys operated under external magnetic fields, leaving its vast potential in soft, dynamic, and biological environments essentially unexplored. In 2021, we discovered a giant magnetoelastic effect in a soft polymer system and subsequently extended this concept to a liquid permanent fluidic magnet, establishing an entirely new family of soft magnetoelastic materials and fundamentally redefining the field. These breakthroughs opened a new scientific paradigm in which mechanics, magnetism, and soft matter converge to create intrinsically waterproof, compliant, and biocompatible electronic systems. At the Chen Research Group, we are pioneering this frontier to develop self-powered, robust soft magnetoelastic bioelectronics for active sensing, therapy, and energy harvesting. Our vision is to establish soft magnetoelasticity as a new building block for personalized healthcare and sustainable energy, shaping the next generation of intelligent systems at the interface of materials, biology, and medicine.
Dr. Jun Chen is currently an associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research focuses on soft matter innovation for healthcare and energy. He has published two books and 430 journal articles, with 330 of them being corresponding authors in Nature Review Bioengineering (3), Nature Materials (4), Nature Electronics (10), Nature Biotechnology (2), Nature Chemical Engineering (2), Nature Nanotechnology (1), Nature Sensors (2), Nature Cardiovascular Research (1), Nature Biomedical Engineering (1), Nature Communications (10), Science Advances (6), Chemical Reviews (2), Chemical Society Reviews (2), among others. With a current h-index of 140, Dr. Chen was identified to be one of the world’s most influential researchers in the field of Materials Science on the Web of Science. Among his many accolades are the V. M. Watanabe Excellence in Research Award (1 faculty per year in UCLA Samueli School of Engineering), ACS Nano Lectureship, MRS Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award, Hisako Terasaki Young Innovator Award, Stephanie L Kwolek Prize, Shu Chien Early Career Award, Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering (AAASE) Rising Star Award, ASME Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering, BMES CMBE Rising Star Award, UCLA Faculty Mentor Award, UCLA Society of Hellman Fellows Award, Georgia Tech Alumni 40 Under 40, ONR Young Investigator Award, AHA Innovative Project Award, AHA Transformational Project Award, AHA's Second Century Early Faculty Independence Award, NIH UCLA CTSI KL2 Translational Science Award, BBRF Young Investigator Award, Okawa Foundation Research Award, Advanced Materials Rising Star, Materials Today Rising Star Award, Chem. Soc. Rev. Emerging Investigator Award, Nano Research Young Innovator Award, ACS PMSE Young Investigator Award, among others. He is a Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Beyond his research activities, Dr. Chen serves as the Executive Editor-in-Chief of Med-X, a section editor for Biosensors and Bioelectronics, and associate editors for VIEW Medicine, Soft Science, MRS Communications, FlexMat, Iontronics, cMat, and Textiles. Additionally, he is a member of the advisory and editorial boards of over 20 journals, including Matter, Materials Today, Materials Today Energy, Nano-Mirco Letters, Cell Reports Physical Science, The Innovation, Nano Trends, Biomedical Technology, among others.