LIM Chwee Teck

NUSS Professor, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore

ctlim@nus.edu.sg
E3, #05-10, 9 Engineering Drive 1
Dept of Biomedical Engineering
National University of Singapore
Singapore 117581

Curriculum Vitae

Laboratory website
MechanoBioEngineering Laboratory

Research Program
Leader, Technology Innovation for Mechanobiology Group

Affiliations
NUSS Professor, National University of Singapore

Director, Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech)

Lim Chwee Teck

Principal Investigator

Research Areas

Collective cell migration; Human disease mechanobiology; Microfluidic biomedical technologies, Soft wearable technologies

Research Interests

We aim to address important scientific and biomedical problems using interdisciplinary approaches, develop innovative solutions and translate them for biological and healthcare applications. Our focused areas include mechanobiology of human diseases, and the development of microfluidic technologies and flexible wearable devices for human disease diagnosis and precision therapy.

Another major research interest is collective cell migration which is central to the development and maintenance of multicellular organisms and requires orchestrated movement of cells in specific directions to specific locations and within geometrical constraints. Thus, understanding the mechanisms by which cells collective migrate may potentially lead to the development of therapeutic strategies for diseases such as cancer or for tissue repair. Here, we seek to understand how mechanical cues such as spatial organisation of ECM proteins or geometrical constraints can regulate and coordinate collective migration of cells as well as force transmission across the cell sheet.

Biography

Professor Lim is the inaugural NUSS chair Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Founding Principal Investigator at the Mechanobiology Institute. He is also the Director of the Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech) and Founding Director of the Singapore Health Technologies Consortium. Prof Lim’s research interests are interdisciplinary and include human disease mechanobiology, microfluidic biomedical technologies for human disease diagnosis and precision medicine and soft wearable technologies for healthcare applications.

He has authored over 400 peer-reviewed journal papers and delivered more than 390 plenary/keynote/invited talks. He is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE), Academy of Engineering, Singapore and the Singapore National Academy of Science. He is also an elected member of the World Council of Biomechanics. He currently sits on the editorial boards of more than 20 international journals. Prof Lim has co-founded six startups which are commercializing technologies developed in his lab.

He and his team have garnered close to 100 research awards and honors including Highly Cited Researcher 2019, Winner of IDTechEx Launchpad 2017, International Precision Medicine Conference Prize 2017, ASEAN Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award and Asian Scientists 100 in 2016, Vladimir K. Zworykin Award in 2015, University’s Outstanding Researcher Award and Outstanding Innovator Award in 2014, the Credit Suisse Technopreneur of the Year Award, Wall Street Journal Asian Innovation Award (Gold) in 2012, President’s Technology Award in 2011 and the IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award in 2010 among others. His research was cited by the MIT Technology Review magazine as one of the top ten emerging technologies of 2006 that will “have a significant impact on business, medicine or culture.”

Education

BEng in Mechanical Engineering (with First Class Honours), National University of Singapore

PhD University of Cambridge, UK

Selected Publications

1. Phuong Le, A, et al, Adhesion-mediated heterogeneous actin organization governs apoptotic cell extrusion, Nature Communications, 2020. (in press)
2. Doss, B L et al, Cell response to substrate rigidity is regulated by active and passive cytoskeletal stress, PNAS, 117, 23, 12817-12825 2020.
3. Jain, S et al, The role of single cell mechanical behavior and polarity in driving collective cell migration, Nature Physics, 1-8, 2020.
4. Sun, A X Y et al, Potassium Channel Dysfunction in Human Neuronal models of Angelman Syndrome, Science, 366, 6472, 1486-1492, 2019.
5. Lim, S B et al, Addressing cellular heterogeneity in tumor and circulation for refined prognostication, PNAS, 116, 36, 17957-17962, 2019.
6. Ding, X G et al, Defect Engineered Bioactive Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Quantum Dots, Nature Communications, 10, 1, 41, 2019.
7. Xi, W, T B Saw, C T Lim, B Ladoux, Materials Approach to Active Tissue Mechanics, Nature Reviews Materials, 4, 23-44, 2019.
8. Saw, T B, W Xi, B Ladoux, C T Lim, Biological tissues as active nematic liquid crystals, Advanced Materials, 118, 14, 6499-6515, 2018
9. Chaudhuri, P K, B C Low, C T Lim, Mechanobiology of Tumor Growth, Chemical Reviews, 118, 14, 6499-6515, 2018
10. Sun, S Y et al, Flagellum couples cell shape to motility in Trypanosoma brucei, PNAS, 201722618, 2018
11. Khoo, B L et al, Expansion of patient-derived circulating tumor cells from liquid biopsies using a CTC microfluidic culture device, Nature Protocols, 13, 34-58, 2018
12. Kenry et al, When stem cells meet graphene: Opportunities and challenges in regenerative medicine, Biomaterials, 155, 236-250, 2018
13. Lim, S B et al, An extracellular matrix-related prognostic and predictive indicator for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer, Nature Communications, 8, 1734, 2017
14. Saw, T B et al, Topological defects in epithelia govern cell death and extrusion, Nature, 544, 212-216, 2017. [PMID: 28406198]
15. Warkiani, M E, et al, Ultra-fast, label-free isolation of circulating tumor cells from blood using spiral microfluidics, Nature Protocols, 14, 1, 128-37, 2016. [PMID: 26678083]
16. Khoo, B L et al, Liquid biopsy and therapeutic response: Circulating tumor cell cultures for evaluation of anticancer treatment. Science Advances, 2, 7, e1600274, 2016. [PMID: 27453941]
17. Gupta, M et al, Adaptive rheology and ordering of cell cytoskeleton govern matrix rigidity sensing, Nature Communications, 6, 7525, 2015. [PMID: 26109233]
18. Vedula, S R K et al, Mechanics of epithelial closure over non-adherent environments, Nature Communications, 6, 6111, 2015. [PMID: 25608921]
19. Lee, W C et al, Multivariate biophysical markers predictive of mesenchymal stromal cell multi potency, PNAS, 111(42):E4409-18, 2014. [PMID: 25298531]
20. Yao, M et al, Force-dependent conformational switch of a-catenin controls vinculin binding, Nature Communications, 5, 4525, 2014. [PMID: 25077739]
21. Vedula, S R K et al, Epithelial bridges maintain tissue integrity during collective cell migration, Nature Materials, 13, 87-96, 2014. [PMID: 24292420]
22. Thiery, J P, C T Lim, Tumor dissemination: An EMT affair, Cancer Cell, 23, 3, 272-273, 2013. [PMID: 23518345]
23. Vedula, S R K et al, Emerging modes of collective cell migration induced by geometrical constraints, PNAS, 109, 32, 12974-12979, 2012. [PMID: 22814373]

Recent Publications

MBI PI Lim Chwee Teck named one of the Highly Cited Researchers for 2018. For the fifth year in a row, researchers at NUS have been crowned as some of the most influential in the world. MBI Principal Investigator Lim Chwee Teck is one of those honored in 2018.

A Worthy Appointment: Professor Lim Chwee Teck, the first full-time professor of NUS to be appointed under the NUSS Professorship, talks about his plans for the Society

Professor Lim Chwee Teck and team awarded the Human Frontier Science Program Research Grant