Awards

• National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Traineeship, California Institute of Technology, 1990 - 1992
• NASA Certificate of Recognition, 1995
• UC Regents' Faculty Development Award, 1995/1996
• NSF Career Award, 1997
• Academic Senate Award, 1997/1998
• UC Regents' Faculty Development Award, 1997/1998
• Special Award, UC Toxic Substance Research and Teaching Program, 1997/1998
• Participant National Academy of Engineering's 4th Annual Symp. on Frontiers of Engineering, 1998
• Invited Participant of the Fifth Annual U.S./Japan Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, 2005
• UC Presidential Chair, July 2006-Present
• AAAS Fellow, 2006
 

Research Area

Current research efforts are focused on the development of novel biocatalysts and biomaterials that can be used to enhance or manipulate microbial metabolism for the degradation of toxic pollutants or for environmentally-friendly synthesis of nanomaterials and fabrication of nanodevices. Another area of interest is the application of these novel biocatalysts or biomaterials for biosensor development.

Selected Publications

Seung Hyun Kang, Krassimir N. Bozhilov, Nosang V. Myung, Ashok Mulchandani and Wilfred Chen, Microbial synthesis of CdS nanocrystals in genetically engineered E. coli, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 47, 5186-5189, 2008

Shailendra Singh, Ashok Mulchandani, and Wilfred Chen, Highly Selective and Rapid Arsenic Removal by Metabolically Engineered E. coli Expressing Fucus vesiculosus Metallothionein, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 74, 2924-2927, 2008

U Loi Lao, Jan Kostal, Ashok Mulchandani, and Wilfred Chen, Affinity Purification of Plasmid DNA by Temperature-Triggered Precipitation, Nature Protocols, 2, 1263-1268, 2007

U Loi Lao, Ashok Mulchandani, and Wilfred Chen, Simple Conjugation and Purification of Quantum Dot-Antibody Complexes Using A Thermally Responsive Elastin-Protein L Scaffold As Immunofluorescent Agents, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128, 14756-14757, 2006

Cindy H. Wu, Thomas K. Wood, Ashok Mulchandani, and Wilfred Chen, Engineering plant-microbe symbiosis for rhizoremediation of heavy metal, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 72, 1129-1134, 2006

Yu-Chen Hwang, Wilfred Chen, and Marylynn V. Yates, Using Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer for Rapid Detection of Enteroviral Infection In Vivo, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 72, 3710-3715, 2006

Di Gao, Nicole McBean, Jerome S. Schultz, Yushan Yan, Ashok Mulchandani, Wilfred Chen, Fabrication of Antibody Arrays Using Thermally Responsive Elastin Fusion Protein, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128, 676-677, 2006

Lianbin Xu, Wilfred Chen, Ashok Mulchandani, Yushan Yan, Reversible Superhydrophobic to Superhydrophilic Conversion of Conducting Polymer Film, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 44, 6009-6012, 2005

Jae-Young Kim, Sean O’Malley, Ashok Mulchandani, and Wilfred Chen, Genetically engineered elastin-protein A fusion as a universal platform for homogeneous, phase-separation immunoassay, Anal. Chem., 77, 2318-2322, 2005

Kumaran Ramanathan, Mangesh Bangar, Minhee Yun, Wilfred Chen, Ashok Mulchandani, and Nosang V. Myung, Individually addressable conducting-polymer nanowires array, Nano Letters, 4, 1237-1239, 2004

Catherine Mee-Hie Cho, Ashok Mulchandani and Wilfred Chen, Altering the Substrate Specificity of Organophosphorus Hydrolase for Enhanced Hydrolysis of Chlorpyrifos, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 70, 4681-4685, 2004

Jan Kostal, Ashok Mulchandani, Katie E. Gropp, and Wilfred Chen, A temperature responsive biopolymer for mercury removal, Environ. Sci. Tech., 37, 4457-4462, 2003

Jan Kostal, Ashok Mulchandani, and Wilfred Chen, Tunable Biopolymers for Heavy Metal Removal, Macromolecules, 34, 2257-2261, 2001

Richard Richins, Irina Kaneva, Ashok Mulchandani, and Wilfred Chen, Biodegradation of Organophosphorus Pesticides by Surface-Expressed Organophosphorus Hydrolase, Nature Biotechnology, 15, 984-987, 1997


For additional information, please see Professor Chen's faculty webpage.

http://www.engr.ucr.edu/~wilfred

Former Institution

Institute of Biotechnology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland

Biography

Research Specialization: Microbial Engineering, Environmental Biotechnology, Enzyme Engineering, Biosensors, and Nanobiotechnology.