Tan Chunyan

Professor Chunyan Tan is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at Tsinghua University Shenzhen International Graduate School. Prof. Tan has worked in Tsinghua SIGS since 2005, and her research lies at the intersection of organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, materials chemistry, and chemical biology. By focusing on molecular structure design and interaction mechanisms, her team has developed a comprehensive research framework that spans from fundamental molecular synthesis to biomedical applications. Her team explores function-oriented molecular synthesis and self-assembly, integrating fluorescent signal transduction and biological recognition mechanisms to create innovative fluorescent molecules and materials. These efforts aim to establish methods for detecting, imaging, and regulating biological targets and processes, with applications in early disease diagnosis and treatment.

Professor Tan has published over 140 papers in leading journals, including J. Am. Chem. Soc., Adv. Mater., and ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, accumulating over 5,000 citations with an H-index of 42. She has been awarded Shenzhen Municipal Local High-Level Talent, Shenzhen Municipal Overseas High-Level Talent, and Excellent Teacher of Guangdong Province. She currently serves as Associate Editor of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

January 2000 - August 2004 University of Florida, Chemistry, Ph.D.

September 1995 - July 1998 Xiamen University, Chemistry, M.S. 

September 1991 - July 1995 Xiamen University, Chemistry, B.S.

March 2019 - Present Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Professor

December 2018 - March 2019 Tsinghua University Shenzhen Graduate School, School of Life and Health Sciences, Professor

December 2007 - November 2018 Tsinghua University Shenzhen Graduate School, School of Life and Health Sciences, Associate Professor

November 2005 - November 2007 Tsinghua University Shenzhen Graduate School, School of Life and Health Sciences, Lecturer

August 2004 - September 2005 Northwestern University, Department of Chemistry, Postdoc

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces期刊副主编（美国化学会主办）

Peptide & Protein Letters 期刊编委（Bentham Science Publishers）

Chemical Biology    SIGS

Bootcamp I：Fundamental Biology    SIGS

Nanotechnology for biodetection lab （Rotation 3)    SIGS

Experimental Methods in Biophysics    SIGS

My research lies at the intersection of organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, materials chemistry, and chemical biology. By focusing on molecular structure design and interaction mechanisms, I have developed a comprehensive research framework that spans from fundamental molecular synthesis to biomedical applications. My team explores function-oriented molecular synthesis and self-assembly, integrating fluorescent signal transduction and biological recognition mechanisms to create innovative fluorescent molecules and materials. These efforts aim to establish methods for detecting, imaging, and regulating biological targets and processes, with applications in early disease diagnosis and treatment. Specifically, it includes the following research projects:

(1) Conjugated polymers: Design, synthesis, and biological applications

(2) Molecular Assembly Systems and Their Applications in Biological Process Regulation

(3) Responsive Molecular Tools and Their Applications in Disease Diagnosis and Treatment

(4) Photocatalytic Systems and Reaction Mechanisms Based on Novel Molecules and Functional Materials

My research has been funded by NSFC and Shenzhen Municipal Government. I also participated in some major projects, including 973, 863 and the Major Drug Discovery Projects in the 12th Five Year Plan and the 11th Five Year Plan. 

1. Ma, Z.; Fu, Z.; Hou, B.; Zeng, X.; Wang, J.; Tan, Y.; Jiang, Y.; Xu, N.; Tan, C. Two-Photon Light-Activatable Fluorophores for Organelle Imaging in Living Cells and Tissue-Level Imaging. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, jacs.5c14442. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c14442.

2. Zhao, Q.-R.; Wang, K.; Gao, X.; Tan, C. Two-Dimensional Porphyrin-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks for Visible-Light-Driven Oxidative Coupling of Benzylamines. Chem. Commun. 2025, 61 (67), 12502–12505. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5CC03568F.

3. Ke, Y.; Sun, Y.; Liao, A.; Zhao, F.; Tan, Y.; Tan, C. Conjugated Polyelectrolyte-Based Sensor Arrays: From Sensing Mechanisms to Artificial Sensory System Conceptualization. ACS Appl. Mater. Interface 2025, 17 (11), 16396−16409. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c22848.

4. Tan, C.; Wang, S.; Barboza-Ramos, I.; Schanze, K. S. A Perspective Looking Backward and Forward on the 25th Anniversary of Conjugated Polyelectrolytes. ACS Appl. Mater. Interface 2024, 16 (16), 19887–19892.

5. Sun, Y.; Jiang, L.; Zhang, Z.; Xu, N.; Jiang, Y.; Tan, C. Conjugated Polyelectrolyte/Single Strand DNA Hybrid Polyplexes for Efficient Nucleic Acid Delivery and Targeted Protein Degradation. ACS Appl. Mater. Interface 2024, 16 (16), 19987–19994.

6. Ma, Z.; Hou, B.; Liao, A.; Tan, Y.; Tan, C.; Jiang, Y. Light-Activable Inhibitor Overcomes Antimicrobial Resistance and Regulates Antibacterial Activity. J. Med. Chem. 2024, 67 (22), 20455–20466.

7. Wang, T.; Tan, Y.; Chen, Y. Z.; Tan, C. Infrared Spectral Analysis for Prediction of Functional Groups Based on Feature-Aggregated Deep Learning. J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2023, 63 (15), 4615–4622.

8. Jin, Y.; Sun, Y.; Du, N.; Dou, W.-T.; Tan, Y.; He, X.-P.; Xu, N.; Tan, C. Rapid Identification of Molecular Subtyping of Breast Cancer Cell Lines Using a Multi-Channel Sensor Array. Sens. Diagn. 2023, 2 (4), 837–841.

9. Zhang, P.; Tan, C. Cross-Reactive Fluorescent Sensor Array for Discrimination of Amyloid Beta Aggregates. Anal. Chem. 2022, 94 (14), 5469–5473.

10. Jin, Y.; Du, N.; Huang, Y.; Shen, W.; Tan, Y.; Chen, Y. Z.; Dou, W.-T.; He, X.-P.; Yang, Z.; Xu, N.; Tan, C. Fluorescence Analysis of Circulating Exosomes for Breast Cancer Diagnosis Using a Sensor Array and Deep Learning. ACS Sens. 2022, 7 (5), 1524–1532. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.2c00259.

Outstanding Teachers in southern Guangdong in 2021

Tsinghua University Teaching Excellence Award in 2019

Chemical Biology ranked top 5% in the Teaching Evaluation of the Fall term in 2019

Excellent Master thesis advisor of Tsinghua University