Professor Yi-Chin Toh
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Biography
Yi-Chin Toh is an ARC Future Fellow and Professor at the Queensland University of Technology. She is also currently the Director of QUT Centre for Biomedical Technologies. She obtained her B.Eng in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D in Bioengineering from the National University of Singapore in 2001 and 2008, respectively. She did her post-doctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. Before joining QUT in 2019, she was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore.Yi-Chin leads the Micro Tissue Engineering Lab (https://microtelab.com/). Her major scientific contribution is in advancing microfluidic tissue models for applications in drug testing and experimental biology. To date, she has produced 70 peer-reviewed publications (h-index = 30, 3900 citations), eight patent applications, and over 100 conference presentations. Her works on alternative animal technologies have won accolades, such as the Lab on a Chip & Dolomite Pioneers in Miniaturization Lectureship Award (2022) and Global 3R Award (2019). Yi-Chin has taken up various leadership roles in the national and international scientific community. She serves in the Australian Research Council College of Experts, the Scientific Advisory Committee of Lab on a Chip (2022) and AIP Biomicrofluidics (2022), and the editorial board of Springer-Nature Microsystems & Nanotechnology (2023). She also contributes actively to the organization of the MicroTAS conference series, including the Poster Award Committee (2018-2019) and the Executive Technical Program Committee (ETPC) in 2021.
Personal details
Positions
- Professor
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Research field
Biomedical Engineering, Interdisciplinary Engineering
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD in Bioengineering (National University of Singapore)
Professional memberships and associations
Chief Investigator, QUT Centre for Biomedical Technologies Associate Editor, Biomicrofluidics Associate Editor, Frontiers in Digital Health (Personalised Medicine) Editorial board member, Micromachines Poster judging committee, MicroTAS (Co-chair, 2018 / Chair, 2019) Executive Technical Program Committee, MicroTAS (2021-)
Publications
- Ong, L., Ching, T., Chong, L., Arora, S., Li, H., Hashimoto, M., DasGupta, R., Yuen, P. & Toh, Y. (2019). Self-aligning Tetris-Like (TILE) modular microfluidic platform for mimicking multi-organ interactions. Lab on a Chip, 19(13), 2178–2191. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/133806
- Sahni, G., Chang, S., Meng, J., Tan, J., Fatien, J., Bonnard, C., Utami, K., Chan, P., Tan, T., Altunoglu, U., Kayserili, H., Pouladi, M., Reversade, B. & Toh, Y. (2021). A Micropatterned Human-Specific Neuroepithelial Tissue for Modeling Gene and Drug-Induced Neurodevelopmental Defects. Advanced Science, 8(5). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/212166
- Ching, T., Vasudevan, J., Tan, H., Lim, C., Fernandez, J., Toh, Y. & Hashimoto, M. (2021). Highly-customizable 3D-printed peristaltic pump kit. HardwareX, 10. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/212165
- Ching, T., Toh, Y., Hashimoto, M. & Zhang, Y. (2021). Bridging the academia-to-industry gap: organ-on-a-chip platforms for safety and toxicology assessment. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 42(9), 715–728. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/212092
- Ching, T., Toh, Y. & Hashimoto, M. (2020). Fabrication of Complex 3D Fluidic Networks via Modularized Stereolithography. Advanced Engineering Materials, 22(3). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/212101
- Arora, S., Lam, A., Cheung, C., Yim, E. & Toh, Y. (2019). Determination of critical shear stress for maturation of human pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cells towards an arterial subtype. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 116(5), 1164–1175. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/133792
- Ching, T., Li, Y., Karyappa, R., Ohno, A., Toh, Y. & Hashimoto, M. (2019). Fabrication of integrated microfluidic devices by direct ink writing (DIW) 3D printing. Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical, 297, 1–9. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/133819
- Arora, S., Lin, S., Cheung, C., Yim, E. & Toh, Y. (2020). Topography elicits distinct phenotypes and functions in human primary and stem cell derived endothelial cells. Biomaterials, 234. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/212099
- Chong, L., Li, H., Wetzel, I., Cho, H. & Toh, Y. (2018). A liver-immune coculture array for predicting systemic drug-induced skin sensitization. Lab on a Chip, 18(21), 3239–3250. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/133804
- Ong, L., Islam, A., DasGupta, R., Iyer, N., Liang, L. & Toh, Y. (2017). A 3D printed microfluidic perfusion device for multicellular spheroid cultures. Biofabrication, 9(4), 1–12. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/133782
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Yi-Chin, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Lab on a Chip Outstanding Reviewer Award
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Associate Editor of APL Biomicrofluidics
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- International Global 3Rs Award International Global 3Rs Award
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Associate Editor for Frontiers in Digital Health (Personalised Medicine)
- Type
- Recipient of a Nationally Competitive Research Fellowship
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (DP20) "A Micro-Physiological System to Mimic Human Microbiome-Organ Interactions"
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Associate Editor for MDPI Micromachines
Selected research projects
- Title
- A Micro-Physiological System to Mimic Human Microbiome-Organ Interactions
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP200101658
- Start year
- 2020
- Keywords
- Title
- ARC ITTC (CTET) for Cell and Tissue Engineering Technologies
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- IC190100026
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
- Title
- Modular microfluidic platform for mimicking multi-organ system interactions
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- FT180100157
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- A 3D Printed Hydrogel Microfluidic Vascular Model for Studying the Interplay between Atherogenic Hemodynamic and Vascular Cells
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Zhiyong Li, Adjunct Professor Prasad Yarlagadda - Tissue-specific hydrogels for local niche generation in multi-organ-on-chips
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Distinguished Professor Dietmar W Hutmacher - Understanding the Haemodynamics and Vessel Wall Mechanics of Intracranial Aneurysm Progression and Rupture
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Zhiyong Li, Professor Emilie Sauret
Supervision topics
- Controlling biochemical environment with bioprinting for cell cultures
- Microfluidic chip-based tumor-immune cancer models for biomarker discovery
- Development of a microfluidic sample processing integrated robot (micro SPIN-R)
- Develop microfluidic technologies for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
- Development of a Microfluidic Gut-Brain Axis Chip
- 3D Bioprinting in Cancer Research
- Development of a multiplexed gut micro-bioreactor for functional screening of gut microbiome
- Development of a 3D Printed Nasal Model to Study Viral-Airway Interactions
- Multi-microbial 3D printing for screening microbiome functions
- An airway chip for screening viral infection mediated immune responses
- An airway chip for screening viral infection mediated immune responses