
Overview
Background
Currently looking for motivated PhD candidates from diverse disciplines, including but not limited to engineering (e.g., mechanical, biomedical, mechatronics, materials, and chemical), information technology, physics and biomedicine.
Fully funded PhD scholarship is available:
https://study.uq.edu.au/study-options/phd-mphil-professional-doctorate/projects/viscoelastic-microfluidics-biomedical-and-environmental-applications
Dr Dan Yuan is a Lecturer in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering (2022 - ongoing) and an ARC DECRA Fellow (2024 - 2027) within the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering (SoMME) at the University of Queensland. Dan has been successful in obtaining competitive grant funding including over $1.6M as chief investigator in a range of projects (ARC DECRA Fellowship, ARC LIEF, Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship, Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship). She completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong (UOW) in 2018. After graduation, she continued her research at UOW as an Associate Research Fellow. From 2019 to 2021, she was a JSPS Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo. From 2021 to 2022, she worked as an Alfred Deakin Research Fellow at Deakin University.
Based on the micro-nano devices, she was doing interdisciplinary research of mechatronics, chemistry, physics, optics, environmental and biomedical applications, aiming at addressing real-life challenges in both environment and biomedicine. Her research interests are microfluidics, microfabrication, development of point-of-need devices for environmental and biomedical applications, intelligent image activated cell sorting, and smart sensors, materials and platforms.
In less than 10 years’ research time, she published over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles which have received > 4000 citations. The prestigious journals include Adv. Funct. Mater., Nat. Commun., Small, Lab Chip, Microsystems & Nanoengineering, and Anal. Chem. She currently has an h-index of 30. She was the Guest Editor for Biosensors (2022), Frontiers in Medical Technology (2021-2022); regular independent reviewer for more than 10 international journals such as ACS Nano, Lab on a Chip, Analytical Chemistry, Microsystems and Nanoengineering, Scientific Reports, IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics, Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, Cytometry Part A. etc.
Master's and PhD positions are opening. The potential research projects include physics of fluid flow (especially non-Newtonian fluids) in micro/nano-channels, manipulation and separation of micro-/nanoparticles and fluid control, development of point-of-need devices for environmental and biomedical applications (e.g. disease diagnosis and therapeutics), intelligent microfluidics. Candidates with backgrounds in engineering (e.g., mechanical, mechatronics, materials, chemical and biomedical etc.), information technology, physics and biomedicine are welcome to enquiry.
Availability
- Dr Dan Yuan is:
- Available for supervision
Research impacts
Dr Dan Yuan is a lead researcher in the field of viscoelastic microfluidics and its applications. She has developed comprehensive understanding of fundamental physics for particle migration in microfluidics especially viscoelastic microfluidics, which could expand the boundary of current knowledge. Also, she has developed cutting-edge microfluidic technologies for particle and cell manipulation and separation, aiming at addressing real-life challenges in both biomedicine and environment. Her research achievements and emerging reputation have been acknowledged by the broader scientific community. She was awarded the competitive ARC DECRA Fellowship, Alfred Deakin Research Fellowship and JSPS Fellowship as a chief investigator and secured over $1.6M AUD research funding in total.
She was the first to develop viscoelastic fluids-based microdevices for cell manipulation and apply them to extract blood plasma from blood with ultra-high purity (Lab Chip, 2016, 16(20): 3919-3928.). This work has attracted international interests due to its potential in cancer diagnostics and prognosis, as evidenced by reports of her discovery by worldwide media in 2017: Health Canal (United States); Technology Networks (United Kingdom); UOW (University of Wollongong) news (Australia); X-MOL (China); et al. This ground-breaking research has been selected as the cover page of Lab Chip. Her work of developing viscoelastic microfluidic devices for cell purification (Lab Chip, 2019, 19(17): 2811-2821.) was selected as the cover page of Lab Chip, and was listed as one of Lab Chip’s highest citing papers contributing to its Impact Factor 7.517 (with 19 alone in 2021). This novel platform technology has started to transform the way cells are identified and purified, and is also paving the way for addressing problems with microalgae contamination in industrial processes. In addition to the size-based cell manipulation, she also pioneered the area of shape-based separation techniques and applied this to the separation of cyanobacteria, demonstrating the ability to manipulate cells based on morphologies and with a size of >100 μm (Anal. Chem. 2021, 93, 37, 12648–12654). This is a revolutionary achievement opening opportunities and applications in research fields not yet employing microfluidic technologies. This work was featured as a cover page article and has been interviewed and reported by media X-MOL (China). Her review article on the recent progress of particle migration in viscoelastic fluid (Lab Chip. 2018 18 (4): 551-567.) was listed as Web of Science Highly Cited paper.
Works
Search Professor Dan Yuan’s works on UQ eSpace
2018
Journal Article
Tunable particle separation in a hybrid dielectrophoresis (DEP)- inertial microfluidic device
Zhang, Jun, Yuan, Dan, Zhao, Qianbin, Yan, Sheng, Tang, Shi-Yang, Tan, Say Hwa, Guo, Jinhong, Xia, Huanming, Nguyen, Nam-Trung and Li, Weihua (2018). Tunable particle separation in a hybrid dielectrophoresis (DEP)- inertial microfluidic device. Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical, 267, 14-25. doi: 10.1016/j.snb.2018.04.020
2018
Journal Article
Enhanced particle self-ordering in a double-layer channel
Yan, Sheng, Li, Yuxing, Zhao, Qianbin, Yuan, Dan, Yun, Guolin, Tang, Shi-Yang and Li, Weihua (2018). Enhanced particle self-ordering in a double-layer channel. Biomedical Microdevices, 20 (2) 23, 1-7. doi: 10.1007/s10544-018-0269-5
2018
Journal Article
Simple, low-cost fabrication of semi-circular channel using the surface tension of solder paste and its application to microfluidic valves
Yan, Sheng, Li, Yuxing, Zhu, Yuanqing, Liu, Minsu, Zhao, Qianbin, Yuan, Dan, Yun, Guolin, Zhang, Shiwu, Wen, Weijia, Tang, Shi-Yang and Li, Weihua (2018). Simple, low-cost fabrication of semi-circular channel using the surface tension of solder paste and its application to microfluidic valves. Electrophoresis, 39 (12), 1460-1465. doi: 10.1002/elps.201800064
2018
Journal Article
Microfluidic mass production of stabilized and stealthy liquid metal nanoparticles
Tang, Shi-Yang, Qiao, Ruirui, Yan, Sheng, Yuan, Dan, Zhao, Qianbin, Yun, Guolin, Davis, Thomas P. and Li, Weihua (2018). Microfluidic mass production of stabilized and stealthy liquid metal nanoparticles. Small, 14 (21) 1800118, 1-8. doi: 10.1002/smll.201800118
2018
Journal Article
A rapid, maskless 3D prototyping for fabrication of capillary circuits: toward urinary protein detection
Yan, Sheng, Zhu, Yuanqing, Tang, Shi-Yang, Li, Yuxing, Zhao, Qianbin, Yuan, Dan, Yun, Guolin, Zhang, Jun, Zhang, Shiwu and Li, Weihua (2018). A rapid, maskless 3D prototyping for fabrication of capillary circuits: toward urinary protein detection. Electrophoresis, 39 (7), 957-964. doi: 10.1002/elps.201700449
2018
Journal Article
Liquid metal-based amalgamation-assisted lithography for fabrication of complex channels with diverse structures and configurations
Yan, Sheng, Li, Yuxing, Zhao, Qianbin, Yuan, Dan, Yun, Guolin, Zhang, Jun, Wen, Weijia, Tang, Shi-Yang and Li, Weihua (2018). Liquid metal-based amalgamation-assisted lithography for fabrication of complex channels with diverse structures and configurations. Lab on a Chip, 18 (5), 785-792. doi: 10.1039/c8lc00047f
2018
Journal Article
Recent progress of particle migration in viscoelastic fluids
Yuan, Dan, Zhao, Qianbin, Yan, Sheng, Tang, Shi-Yang, Alici, Gursel, Zhang, Jun and Li, Weihua (2018). Recent progress of particle migration in viscoelastic fluids. Lab on a Chip, 18 (4), 551-567. doi: 10.1039/c7lc01076a
2018
Journal Article
Versatile microfluidic platforms enabled by novel magnetorheological elastomer microactuators
Tang, Shi-Yang, Zhang, Xuchun, Sun, Shuaishuai, Yuan, Dan, Zhao, Qianbin, Yan, Sheng, Deng, Lei, Yun, Guolin, Zhang, Jun, Zhang, Shiwu and Li, Weihua (2018). Versatile microfluidic platforms enabled by novel magnetorheological elastomer microactuators. Advanced Functional Materials, 28 (8) 1705484, 1-10. doi: 10.1002/adfm.201705484
2018
Journal Article
A portable, hand-powered microfluidic device for sorting of biological particles
Yan, Sheng, Tan, Say Hwa, Li, Yuxing, Tang, Shiyang, Teo, Adrian J. T., Zhang, Jun, Zhao, Qianbin, Yuan, Dan, Sluyter, Ronald, Nguyen, N. T. and Li, Weihua (2018). A portable, hand-powered microfluidic device for sorting of biological particles. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 22 (1) 8, 1-10. doi: 10.1007/s10404-017-2026-0
2017
Journal Article
High-throughput separation of white blood cells from whole blood using inertial microfluidics
Zhang, Jun, Yuan, Dan, Sluyter, Ronald, Yan, Sheng, Zhao, Qianbin, Xia, Huanming, Tan, Say Hwa, Nguyen, Nam-Trung and Li, Weihua (2017). High-throughput separation of white blood cells from whole blood using inertial microfluidics. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, 11 (6) 8017537, 1422-1430. doi: 10.1109/TBCAS.2017.2735440
2017
Journal Article
Double-mode microparticle manipulation by tunable secondary flow in microchannel with arc-shaped groove arrays
Zhao, Qianbin, Yan, Sheng, Yuan, Dan, Zhang, Jun, Du, Haiping, Alici, Gursel and Li, Weihua (2017). Double-mode microparticle manipulation by tunable secondary flow in microchannel with arc-shaped groove arrays. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, 11 (6) 8010314, 1406-1412. doi: 10.1109/TBCAS.2017.2722012
2017
Journal Article
The continuous concentration of particles and cancer cell line using cell margination in a groove-based channel
Yan, Sheng, Yuan, Dan, Zhao, Qianbin, Zhang, Jun and Li, Weihua (2017). The continuous concentration of particles and cancer cell line using cell margination in a groove-based channel. Micromachines, 8 (11) 315, 1-11. doi: 10.3390/mi8110315
2017
Journal Article
On-chip microparticle and cell washing using coflow of viscoelastic fluid and Newtonian fluid
Yuan, Dan, Tan, Say Hwa, Sluyter, Ronald, Zhao, Qianbin, Yan, Sheng, Nguyen, N. T., Guo, Jinhong, Zhang, Jun and Li, Weihua (2017). On-chip microparticle and cell washing using coflow of viscoelastic fluid and Newtonian fluid. Analytical Chemistry, 89 (17), 9574-9582. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b02671
2017
Journal Article
Analysis of hydrodynamic mechanism on particles focusing in micro-channel flows
Wang, Qikun, Yuan, Dan and Li, Weihua (2017). Analysis of hydrodynamic mechanism on particles focusing in micro-channel flows. Micromachines, 8 (7) 197, 1-11. doi: 10.3390/mi8070197
2017
Journal Article
High throughput cell-free extraction of plasma by an integrated microfluidic device combining inertial focusing and membrane
Zhang, Jun, Yan, Sheng, Yuan, Dan, Alici, Gursel, Nguyen, Nam-Trung and Li, Weihua (2017). High throughput cell-free extraction of plasma by an integrated microfluidic device combining inertial focusing and membrane. Journal of Heat Transfer, 139 (5) 052404, 1-7. doi: 10.1115/1.4035588
2017
Journal Article
Flow rate-insensitive microparticle separation and filtration using a microchannel with arc-shaped groove arrays
Zhao, Qianbin, Yuan, Dan, Yan, Sheng, Zhang, Jun, Du, Haiping, Alici, Gursel and Li, Weihua (2017). Flow rate-insensitive microparticle separation and filtration using a microchannel with arc-shaped groove arrays. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 21 (3) 55, 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s10404-017-1890-y
2017
Journal Article
High-throughput sheathless and three-dimensional microparticle focusing using a microchannel with arc-shaped groove arrays
Zhao, Qianbin, Zhang, Jun, Yan, Sheng, Yuan, Dan, Du, Haiping, Alici, Gursel and Li, Weihua (2017). High-throughput sheathless and three-dimensional microparticle focusing using a microchannel with arc-shaped groove arrays. Scientific Reports, 7 (1) 41153, 1-11. doi: 10.1038/srep41153
2017
Journal Article
Sheathless Dean-flow-coupled elasto-inertial particle focusing and separation in viscoelastic fluid
Yuan, Dan, Tan, Say Hwa, Zhao, Qianbin, Yan, Sheng, Sluyter, Ronald, Nguyen, N. T., Zhang, Jun and Li, Weihua (2017). Sheathless Dean-flow-coupled elasto-inertial particle focusing and separation in viscoelastic fluid. RSC Advances, 7 (6), 3461-3469. doi: 10.1039/C6RA25328H
2017
Journal Article
Hybrid microfluidics combined with active and passive approaches for continuous cell separation
Yan, Sheng, Zhang, Jun, Yuan, Dan and Li, Weihua (2017). Hybrid microfluidics combined with active and passive approaches for continuous cell separation. Electrophoresis, 38 (2), 238-249. doi: 10.1002/elps.201600386
2016
Journal Article
Characteristics of a dynamic atomic force microscopy based on a higher-order resonant silicon cantilever and experiments
Huang, Qiangxian, Zhao, Yang, Yuan, Dan, Zhang, Liansheng and Cheng, Zhenying (2016). Characteristics of a dynamic atomic force microscopy based on a higher-order resonant silicon cantilever and experiments. Measurement: Journal of the International Measurement Confederation, 94, 31-36. doi: 10.1016/j.measurement.2016.07.081
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Dan Yuan is:
- Available for supervision
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Available projects
-
Viscoelastic Microfluidics for Biomedical and Environmental Applications
Project summary: Use forces generated by fluids that are both viscous and elastic to help address challenges in biomedicine and the environment.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Development of object manipulation techniques with viscoelastic fluids toward efficient environmental monitoring
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alexander Klimenko
Media
Enquiries
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