Jianping Fu, Ph.D.
(CV | Google Scholar | Mentoring Plan)
Short Biography
Dr. Fu received a B.E. degree in 2000 from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and a Ph.D. degree in 2007 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both in Mechanical Engineering. His doctoral thesis was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Jongyoon Han. Dr. Fu was an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Christopher S. Chen's group at the University of Pennsylvania from 2007 to 2009. Since 2009, he has been a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he was promoted to Full Professor in 2020. Dr. Fu also holds courtesy appointments in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology (Medical School).
Dr. Fu's research focuses on stem cell bioengineering, developmental bioengineering, and mechanobiology, particularly in understanding human development, physiology, and disease. Dr. Fu has published over 150 archival journal papers and delivered more than 200 invited seminars and presentations. His contributions have been recognized with over 30 institutional, national, and international awards and honors, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2012), the Rising Star Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society (2016), the Analytical Chemistry Young Innovator Award from the American Chemical Society (2020), the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2022), and multiple research awards from the University of Michigan. Dr. Fu and his co-workers' research on modeling human development using stem cells has significantly contributed to the emerging field of "Artificial Embryos," which was recognized by MIT Technology Review as one of the “10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2018” and by Nature Methods as the “Method of 2023.”
Dr. Fu is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineers (IAMBE), and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). He is also a Life Member of the World Association of Chinese Biomedical Engineers (WACBE), a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a Governing Council Member of IAMBE. From 2019 to 2021, Dr. Fu served on the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Guidelines Working Group, which reviewed the oversight process and updated the ISSCR guidelines on in vitro culture of human embryos, the creation of stem cell-based embryo models, and in vitro gametogenesis. Currently, he is the treasurer of the BMES Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Special Interest Group (BMES CMBE-SIG) and a member of the ASME Bioengineering Division National Technical Committee on Tissue and Cellular Engineering. Dr. Fu is also the Chair of the ISSCR Scientific Programs Committee. As part of the ISSCR technical committees, Dr. Fu was recognized with the ISSCR Public Service Award in 2025.
Dr. Fu has organized numerous meetings in the fields of stem cell bioengineering and human development, including BIRS Workshop, Keystone Symposia, BMES Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Conference, ISSCR Digital Meeting Series, and Bioengineering and Translational Medicine Conference. Dr. Fu currently serves as an Associate Editor of npj Regenerative Medicine and as an Editorial or Advisory Board Member for Cell Stem Cell, Biophysical Journal, Cell Regeneration, Mechanobiology in Medicine, and Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. He is also a Founding Member of the Catalysts Program of The EMBO Journal.
A. EDUCATION
B. POSITIONS AND EMPLOYMENTMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ph.D. in 2007. Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Ph.D. advisor: Jongyoon HanUniversity of Science and Technology of China (USTC)
B.E. in 2000. Department of Mechanical Engineering.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
Professor (with tenure), Department of Mechanical Engineering. (2020-present)
Associate Professor (with tenure), Department of Mechanical Engineering. (2015-2020)
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering. (2009-2015)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Bioengineering. (2007-2009)
Postdoctoral advisor: Christopher S. Chen
C. SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS
ZOLL Medical Lecture, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2025)
International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Public Service Award, awarded to ISSCR technical committees (Member; 2025)
International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Merit Awards (2024; with X. Xue, J. Bok and Y. Kim)
Life Member, World Association of Chinese Biomedical Engineers (WACBE) (2024)
Wise-Najafi Prize for Engineering Excellence in the Miniature World, Univ. Michigan (2024)
Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) (2023)
Fellow, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineers (IAMBE) (2023)
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2022)
Mid-career Biosciences Faculty Achievement Recognition Award, Univ. Michigan (2022)
Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) (2020)
Analytical Chemistry Young Innovator Award, American Chemical Society (ACS) (2020)
Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (2020)
Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) (2020)
Robert M. Caddell Memorial Award for Research, Univ. Michigan (2020)
Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) (2020)
“10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2018 - Artificial Embryos”, MIT Technology Review (2018)
George J. Huebner, Jr. Research Excellence Award, Univ. Michigan (2018)
Rising Star Award, Biomedical Engineering Society - Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (2016)
Ted Kennedy Family Team Excellence Award, Univ. Michigan (2015)
Robert M. Caddell Memorial Award for Research, Univ. Michigan (2014)
Mechanical Engineering Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award, Univ. Michigan (2014)
National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2012)
American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant (National, 2012)
American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship (2008-2010)
Senturia Prize for Best Thesis in MEMS/NEMS, MIT (2007)
Halen Carr Peake Research Prize for Bioengineering Research of Extraordinary Quality, MIT (2007)
PPST 20th Anniversary Research Excellence Award, First Runner-up, MIT (2006)
MIT 100K Entrepreneurship Competition, Semifinalist (2006)
Massachusetts Technology Assessment Award (2006)
D. SELECTED MEDIA INTERVIEWS
09/19/2017, Interview by MIT Technology Review
Artificial human embryos are coming, and no one knows how to handle them
09/11/2019, Interview by National Public Radio (NPR)
Scientists create a device that can mass-produce human embryoids
09/19/2019, Interview by MIT Technology Review
Meet the “artificial embryos” being called uncanny and spectacular
02/27/2020, Interview by COSMOS
Inside biology’s black box
09/01/2020, Interview by Analytical Chemistry
Jianping Fu wins Analytical Chemistry Young Innovator Award
07/01/2023, Interview by China News (in Chinese)
首个人类胚胎模型意味着什么？(What do human embryo models mean?)
E. JOURNAL EDITORIAL SERVICES
Editorial Board Member, Biophysical Journal (2024 - present)
Advisory Board Member, Cell Stem Cell (2023 - present)
Editorial Board Member, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2023 - present)
Editorial Board Member, Mechanobiology in Medicine (2022 - present)
Editorial Board Member, Cell Regeneration (2022 - present)
Associate Editor, npj Regenerative Medicine (2021 - present)
Founding Member, Catalysts Program, EMBO Journal (2021 - present)
Guest Editor, Stem Cell Reports, Special Issue on Embryo Modeling, with co-editor Nicolas Rivron (2021)
Guest Editor, Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering, Special Issue on Organoids and Tissue Development, with co-editor George A. Truskey (2020)
Guest Editor, Biomicrofluidics, 2015
Guest Editor, ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, 2014
Guest Editor, ASME Journal of Nanotechnology in Engineering and Medicine, Special Topic on: Nanoscale materials, devices, and systems for biosensing, biomanipulation, and biofabrication, 2014
F. SELECTED RECENT SERVICES
Conference Organizer
Other Services
Conference Co-organizer, 2026 Keystone Symposia: Stem Cell Models in Embryology (co-organizer: Jun Wu, Miki Ebisuya-Matsuda)
Scientific Program Committee Member, 2025 10th International Symposium on Primate Research, Kunming, China
Conference Co-organizer, 2025 9th Sino-American Workshop on Biomedical Engineering and Biomechanics, Chengdu, China (co-organizer: Xudong Zhang)
Organizing Committee Co-Chair, 2024 8th Bioengineering and Translational Medicine Conference (co-chair: Liangfang Zhang)
Scientific Program Committee Member, 2024 11th World Association for Chinese Biomedical Engineers (WACBE) World Congress on Bioengineering
Conference Co-Organizer, 2023 BMES Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Conference (co-organizers: Dennis Discher and Stephanie Fraley)
Conference Co-Organizer, 2022 Keystone Symposia: Multi-Cellular Engineered Living Systems: Biologically Engineered Systems with New Functionality (co-organizers: Roger D. Kamm and Nuria Montserrat Pulido)
Conference Co-Organizer, 2022 BIRS Workshop: Modeling and Engineering of the Mammalian Embryo (co-organizers: Janet Rossant and Eric D. Siggia)
Conference Co-Organizer, 2021 ISSCR Digital Meeting Series on Stem Cell-Based Embryo Models (co-organizer: Nicolas Rivron)
Chair, International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Scientific Programs Committee (2025-present)
Governing Council Member, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineers (IAMBE; 2024-present)
Member, Biomedical Engineering Society-Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (BMES-CMBE) Council (2019-present)
Member, ASME Bioengineering Division National Technical Committee on Tissue and Cellular Engineering (2011-present)
Member, International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Publications Committee (2021-2025)
Member, MicroTAS Technical Programming Committee (TPC; 2021-present)
Organizing Committee Member, 7th Bioengineering and Translational Medicine Conference (2022)
Organizing Committee Member, 8th International Conference on Stem Cell Engineering (2022)
Member, International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Guidelines Working Group (2019-2021)