Avery Rui SUN

PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering Department, National University of Singapore

sunrui99@u.nus.edu
Level 10 T-Lab
National University of Singapore
5A Engineering Drive 1
Singapore 117411

Avery Rui Sun

PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering Department

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Young

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering

Biography:

Avery obtained his Bachelor’s degree at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, China (2017-2021). His undergraduate research focused on the immune response of bone implants post-surgeries, aiming to promote bone regeneration using drug-loading biomaterials. He then joined Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young’s Lab at the Biomedical Engineering Department of National University of Singapore (2021-), where he is now a senior Ph.D. candidate based in the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI). Avery’s research focuses on extracellular matrix biology and engineering, by designing and applying ECM-mimetic biomaterials to study cardiac mechanobiology in aging and disease.

Technical Skills:

  • Biomaterials fabrication (decellularization, 2D/3D/hybrid hydrogels)
  • Mechanobiological testing (nanoindentation, viscoelasticity analysis, traction force microscopy)
  • Multiscale imaging (SEM/immunolabeled SEM/Cryo-SEM, confocal imaging)
  • Tissue & cell biology (preclinical model anatomy, tissue sectioning, primary cell isolation and culture, immunostaining, functional assays)
  • Molecular biology (RNA-seq, quantitative mass-spec proteomics, RT-qPCR/multiplexed qPCR, bioinformatics)

Recent Publications

  1. Sun AR, Hengst RM, and Young JL. All the small things: Nanoscale matrix alterations in aging tissues. Curr Opin Cell Biol 2024; 87:102322. [PMID: 38277866]
  2. Sun AR, Sun Q, Wang Y, Hu L, Wu Y, Ma F, Liu J, Pang X, and Tang B. Surface modifications of titanium dental implants with strontium eucommia ulmoides to enhance osseointegration and suppress inflammation. Biomater Res 2023; 27(1):21. [PMID: 36927570]

Other Professional Involvement:

  • Visiting researcher, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (Joachim Spatz Lab), May 2025
  • Visiting researcher, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (Joachim Spatz Lab), December 2023
  • Teaching assistant, BN4303 & BN5303: Tissue Engineering for Designing Food (AY2022/23)
  • Teaching assistant, BN3402: Bio-analytics for engineers (AY2022/23)