Dr LIM Chwee Teck

Director, Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech)

Distinguished Professor

Education

  • PhD. University of Cambridge, UK.
  • BEng (First Class Hon). NUS.

Research Interest

  1. Human disease mechanobiology
  2. Microfluidic biomedical technologies
  3. Soft wearable technologies

Technopreneurship & Startups

  1. Co-founder, Microtube Technologies
  2. Co-founder, Flexosense
  3. Co-founder, Clearbridge mFluidics
  4. Co-founder, Clearbridge NanoMedics
  5. Co-founder, Biolidics Ltd (previously known as Clearbridge BioMedics)
  6. Co-founder and Affiliated Partner, Clearbridge Accelerator
  7. Co-founder, Robust Dynamics

Selected Awards & Honours

  1. Public Administration Medal (Bronze) 2026
  2. Eric Reissner Medal 2026
  3. Savio L-Y. Woo Distinguished Lecture Award 2026
  4. Elected International Member, National Academy of Engineering (US) 2026
  5. NUS Distinguished Alumni Award 2025
  6. President’s Science Award 2025
  7. Elected International Fellow, Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) 2025
  8. Otto Schmitt Award 2025
  9. Elected Fellow, Royal Society (UK) 2024
  10. Elected Fellow, Institution of Engineers Singapore
  11. Nature Award for Mentoring in Science (Lifetime Achievement) 2022
  12. IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2022
  13. Elected Fellow, International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine 2022
  14. IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2021
  15. Asia’s Most Influential Scientist, Fortune Times, 2021
  16. Highly Cited Researcher 2021
  17. Elected Fellow, ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology 2021
  18. Highly Cited Author, Royal Society of Chemistry journals, 2020
  19. Finalist, “Science Breakthroughs of the Year” Falling Walls Remote, Berlin, 2020
  20. Elected Fellow, US National Academy of Inventors
  21. Elected Fellow, Singapore National Academy of Science 2020
  22. IP Champion, IPOS-WIPO IP Awards 2019
  23. HFSP Award 2018
  24. Most Innovative Award, Engineering Medical Innovation Global Competition, 2017
  25. Winner, IDTechEx Launchpad, Berlin, Germany, 2017
  26. NUSS Professor, 2017 to present
  27. International Precision Medicine Conference (IPMC) Prize 2017
  28. Winner, Modern Aging Singapore 2016
  29. ASEAN Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award 2016
  30. 14 Inspiring Innovators From Asia, Asian Scientist, 2016
  31. Elected Fellow, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering
  32. IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2016
  33. JT Award, TechPlanter Singapore, 2016
  34. Seven Singaporean Scientists to Watch, Asian Scientist, 2016
  35. Asian Scientist Top 100 List 2016
  36. Elected Fellow, American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering,2015
  37. Elected Fellow, Academy of Engineering, Singapore, 2015
  38. Vladimir K. Zworykin Award, International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering 2015
  39. Provost’s Chair Professorship, 2014 – 2017
  40. Outstanding Researcher Award, NUS University Awards 2014
  41. Outstanding Innovator Award, NUS Innovation & Enterprise Awards 2014
  42. TIE50 Award, TIEcon 2014
  43. Credit Suisse Technopreneur of the Year Award 2012
  44. Wall Street Journal Asian Innovation Audience Choice Awards 2012
  45. Gold, Wall Street Journal Asian Innovation Awards 2012
  46. TechVenture Most Disruptive Technology Award 2012
  47. First Prize, Asian Entrepreneurship Award 2012
  48. InnovFest Promising Start-Up Award 2012
  49. HFSP Award 2012
  50. NGS Excellent Mentoring Award 2011/2012.
  51. Rising Star Innovator Award, TechVenture 2011
  52. President’s Technology Award 2011
  53. Faculty Research Award 2011
  54. Elected Council Member, World Council of Biomechanics 2010 – present
  55. Most Cited Article, Acta Biomaterialia, 2006 – 2010
  56. IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2010
  57. Most Cited Author 2005-2008, Acta Biomaterialia
  58. Cited in MIT Technology Review: 10 Emerging Technologies and their impact, 2006
  59. MRS Outstanding Paper Award, MRS Fall Meeting 2004

Refer to my website for more details.

Membership in Scientific/Professional Organization

  • International Member, National Academy of Engineering, US
  • International Fellow, Royal Academy of Engineering, UK
  • Fellow, Royal Society, UK
  • Fellow, Institution of Engineers Singapore
  • Fellow, International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine
  • Fellow, ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology
  • Fellow, US National Academy of Inventors
  • Fellow, Singapore National Academy of Science
  • Fellow, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering
  • Fellow, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering
  • Fellow, Academy of Engineering, Singapore
  • Council Member, World Council of Biomechanics
  • Council Board Member, World Association for Chinese Biomedical Engineers
  • Executive Member, Biomedical Engineering Society, Singapore
  • Executive Committee Member, Global Enterprise on Micro Mechanics & Molecular Medicine (GEM4)
  • Associate Editor and Editorial Board Member of 20 international journals

Selected Journal Publications

  1. C T, Lim & Z J Daruwalla, Technology Readiness Is Not Clinical Translation Readiness, Nature Reviews Bioengineering, 2026.
  2. Gao, B B et al. AI-Powered Closed-Loop Wearable Bioelectronics for Next Generation Personalized and Autonomous Healthcare, Nature Sensors, 1, 667–680, 2026.
  3. Liu, X Y, et al. High-throughput deformability-based microfluidic sorting reveals metastatic cancer subpopulations, PNAS, 123, 32, e2604094123, 2026.
  4. Wang, J H, et al. A deep reinforcement learning-ensembled virtual reality sports system for adolescents with excess body weight: development, evaluation and randomised controlled trial, Nature Medicine, 1-14, 2025.
  5. Chen, S W, et al. Transforming Healthcare: Intelligent Wearable Sensors Empowered by Smart Materials and Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Materials (Hall of Fame), 2500412, 2025.
  6. Sheng, B, et al, Artificial Intelligence for Diabetes Care: Current, Emerging, and Future Prospects, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 12, 569-595, 2024.
  7. Qi, J M, et al. Bridging the Digital-Physical Divide using Haptics and Wearable Technologies, Nature Electronics, 7, 1098-1110, 2024.
  8. Wang, C R, et al., Translational materials and technologies for wound management: from bench to bedside and beyond, Nature Reviews Materials, 2024.
  9. Chen, S W, et al, Wearable flexible microfluidic sensing technologies, Nature Reviews Bioengineering, 2023. (in press) to Chen, S W, et al, Wearable flexible microfluidic sensing technologies, Nature Reviews Bioengineering, 1, 950-971, 2023.
  10. Chen, S W, et al , Ultrahigh Strain-insensitive Integrated Hybrid Electronics Using Highly Stretchable Bilayer Liquid Metal based Conductor, Advanced Materials, 35, 5, e2208569, 2023.
  11. Glentis, A, et al, The Emergence of Spontaneous Coordinated Epithelial Rotation on Cylindrical Curved Surfaces, Science Advances, 8, 37, eabn5406, 2022.
  12. Saw, T B, et al, Transepithelial potential difference governs epithelial fate by electromechanics, Nature Physics, 18, 1122–1128 2022.
  13. Hong, J H, et al, Point-of-care diagnostic tests for active tuberculosis, Science Translational Medicine, 639, eabj4124, 2022.
  14. Chakraborty S, et al, Agrin-Matrix Metalloproteinase-12 axis confers a mechanically competent microenvironment in skin wound healing, Nature Communications, 12, 6349, 2021.
  15. Xiong, Z, et al, A wireless and battery-free wound infection sensor based on DNA hydrogel, Science Advances, 7, 47, eabj1617, 2021.
  16. Gao, Y J, et al, A wearable multifunctional immunosensor for the monitoring of chronic wounds, Science Advances, 7, 21, eabg9614, 2021.
  17. Gaston, C,  et al, EpCAM promotes endosomal modulation of the cortical RhoA zone for epithelial organization, Nature Communications, 12 1, 1-22, 2021
  18. Phuong Le, et al, Adhesion-mediated heterogeneous actin organization governs apoptotic cell extrusion, Nature Communications, 12,397,2021
  19. Doss, B L et al, Cell response to substrate rigidity is regulated by active and passive cytoskeletal stress, PNAS, 117, 23, 12817-12825 2020.
  20. Jain, S et al, The role of single cell mechanical behavior and polarity in driving collective cell migration, Nature Physics, 1-8, 2020.
  21. Sun, A X Y, et al,  Potassium channel dysfunction in human neuronal models of Angelman syndrome, Science, 366, 6472, 1486-1492, 2019.
  22. Lim, S B et al, Addressing cellular heterogeneity in tumor and circulation for refined prognostication, PNAS, 116, 36, 17957-17962, 2019.
  23. Xi, W et al, Material Approaches to Active Tissue Mechanics, Nature Reviews Materials, 4, 23–44, 2019.
  24. Ding, X G et al, Defect Engineered Bioactive Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Quantum Dots, Nature Communications, 10, 41, 2019.
  25. Saw, T B, W Xi, B Ladoux, C T Lim, Biological tissues as active nematic liquid crystals, Advanced Materials, 30, 47, 2018.
  26. Chaudhuri, P K et al, Mechanobiology of Tumor Growth, Chemical Reviews, 118, 14, 6499-6515, 2018. (F1000 recommended as being of special significance)
  27. Sun, S Y et al, Flagellum couples cell shape to motility in Trypanosoma brucei, PNAS, 201722618, 2018.
  28. Sreekanth, K V et al, Biosensing with the singular phase of an ultrathin metal-dielectric nanophotonic cavity, Nature Communications, 9, 369, 2018.
  29. 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.
  30. Kenry et al, When stem cells meet graphene: Opportunities and challenges in regenerative medicine, Biomaterials, 155, 236-250, 2018.
  31. 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.
  32. Xi, W et al., Soft tubular microfluidics for 2D and 3D applications, PNAS, 114, 40, 10590–10595, 2017.
  33. Saw, T B et al, Topological defects in epithelia govern cell death and extrusion, Nature, 544, 212-216, 2017.
  34. 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.
  35. Yeo, J C et al, Flexible and stretchable strain sensing actuator for wearable soft robotics application, Advanced Materials Technologies, 1, 3, 2016.
  36. Yeo, T et al, Microfluidic enrichment for the single cell analysis of circulating tumor cells, Scientific Reports, 6, 22076, 2016.
  37. 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.
  38. Wang, J et al, Haem-activated promiscuous targeting of artemisinin in Plasmodium falciparum, Nature Communications, 6, 10111, 2015.
  39. Gupta, M et al, Adaptive rheology and ordering of cell cytoskeleton govern matrix rigidity sensing, Nature Communications, 6, 7525, 2015.
  40. Vedula, S R K et al, Mechanics of epithelial closure over non-adherent environments, Nature Communications, 6, 6111, 2015.
  41. Lee, W C et al, Multivariate biophysical markers predictive of mesenchymal stromal cell multi potency, PNAS, 111, 42, E4409-18, 2014.
  42. Yao, M et al, Force-dependent conformational switch of a-catenin controls vinculin binding, Nature Communications, 5, 4525, 2014.
  43. Vedula, S R K et al, Epithelial bridges maintain tissue integrity during collective cell migration, Nature Materials, 13, 87-96, 2014.
  44. Hou H W et al, Isolation and retrieval of circulating tumor cells using centrifugal forces, Scientific Reports, 3, 1259, 2013.
  45. Thiery, J P, C T Lim, Tumor dissemination: An EMT affair, Cancer Cell, 23, 3, 272-273, 2013.
  46. Vedula, S R K et al, Emerging modes of collective cell migration induced by geometrical constraints, PNAS, 109, 32, 12974-12979, 2012. (F1000 recommended as being of special significance)
  47. Lee, W C et al, The origin of enhanced stem cell growth and differentiation on graphene and graphene oxide, ACS Nano, 5, 9, 7334-7341, 2011.