Dong Sun
City University of Hong Kong, China
2022

Professor Dong Sun is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and a Fellow of IEEE. He is the founding head and Chair Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong. As a pioneer in the field of robotic manipulation of cells, his research has led to breakthroughs in combining robotics with various micro-engineering tools including optical tweezers, microneedles, and electromagnetic devices to accomplish automatic cell manipulation and delivery. He is among the first in using robot-aided optical tweezer manipulator to handle biological cells automatically and precisely. He invented the world’s first magnet-driven microrobots that can carry and deliver cells to precise locations in body (Science Robotics 2018). He also conducted the world’s first preclinical trial in using magnetic microrobots to deliver stem cells in living animals for curing liver cancer.

He is currently working to achieve the first clinical microrobot application to deliver stem cells to cartilaginous defects for human articular cartilage regeneration. Professor Sun has published 20 books and book chapters and 450 papers in referred journals and conference proceedings, and he holds 21 international patents. His research also had great industry impact. His invention of magnetic microrobot system for cell therapy won the Award of China’s Top 10 Scientific and Technological Development in Intelligent Manufacturing and Geneva Invention Award. His patented research on intelligent sensor was transferred to industry and is currently used in the EChannel auto-pass systems of Hong Kong immigration gate. Dr. Sun has also played a prominent leadership role in organizing flagship conferences (such as IROS’19) as the general chair, serving prestigious leadership groups such as the IEEE Fellow Evaluation Committee, and election as a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.