Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, USA (12/2016)

M.E. in Solid Mechanics, Tsinghua University, China (6/2011)

B.E. in Engineering Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University, China (6/2008)

09/2019 – Present, Associate Professor in Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, China

08/2017 – 05/2019, Postdoctoral Associate, MIT and Harvard Medical School, USA

01/2017 – 06/2017, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan, USA

2017 – Present, Member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research

2013 – Present, Member of the Biomedical Engineering Society

2013 – Present, Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

The Shao lab focuses on developing novel hybrid technologies to solve critical health-related problems faced by our global community via merging mechanics, engineering, biology, and medicine. The lab currently works on following directions:

1. Develop mechanics-guided new technologies to transform biology, medicine, and healthcare.

2. Develop multi-scale biomechanical technologies and investigate the role of mechanics in human development, diseases, and regeneration to drive therapeutic innovations.

3. Leverage biomimicry and bio-inspiration to develop disruptive technologies for human health.

1. Post-doctoral Fellow Shooting Star Award, BMES-CMBE (2018)

2. ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award, University of Michigan (2017)

3. Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad (2017)

4. Richard and Eleanor Towner Prize for Outstanding PhD Research, University of Michigan (2016)

5. I.K. McIvor Award, University of Michigan (2015)

6. Alexander Azarkhin Scholarship, University of Michigan (2014)

7. Future of Science Fund Scholarship, Keystone Symposia (2014)

8. Outstanding Paper Award, 2013 ASME Global Congress on Nano Engineering for Medicine and Biology (NEMB) (2013)

9. Outstanding Master Thesis Award, Tsinghua University (2011)

In past years, our research has generated: (1) the first in vitro model for peri- and post-implantation human embryogenesis using pluripotent stem cells; (2) a versatile, engineered platform for controlling multi-cellular self-organization, morphogenesis, differentiation, and symmetry-breaking; and (3) mechanics-guided design of biomaterials and biomedical devices. Our findings have been published in Nature, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Advanced Materials, etc. Our work on “Synthetic Embryos” has been selected by the MIT Technology Review as one of the Ten Breakthroughs of 2018.

Selected Publications: (*: equal contribution)

[1] Sajedeh Nasr Esfahani*, Yue Shao*, Agnes M. Resto Irizarry, Zida Li, Xufeng Xue, Deborah L. Gumucio, and Jianping Fu. Microengineered human amniotic ectoderm tissue array for high-content developmental phenotyping. Biomaterials, vol. 216, 119244, 2019.

[2] Kenichiro Taniguchi*, Yue Shao*, Ryan F. Townshend, Chari Cortez, Clair Harris, Sasha Meshinchi, Sundeep Kalantry, Jianping Fu, K. Sue O'Shea, and Deborah L. Gumucio. An apicosome initiates self-organizing morphogenesis of human pluripotent stem cells. The Journal of Cell Biology, vol. 216, 3981, 2017.

[3] Yue Shao*, Kenichiro Taniguchi*, Ryan F. Townshend, Toshio Miki, Deborah L. Gumucio, and Jianping Fu. A pluripotent stem cell-based model for post-implantation human amniotic sac development. Nature Communications, vol. 8, 208, 2017.

[4] Yue Shao*, Kenichiro Taniguchi*, Katherine Gurdziel, Ryan F. Townshend, Xufeng Xue, Koh Meng Aw Yong, Jianming Sang, Jason R. Spence, Deborah L. Gumucio, and Jianping Fu. Self-organized amniogenesis by human pluripotent stem cells in a biomimetic implantation-like niche. Nature Materials, vol. 16, 419, 2017.

[5] Shinuo Weng*, Yue Shao*, Weiqiang Chen, and Jianping Fu. Mechanosensitive subcellular rheostasis drives emergent single-cell mechanical homeostasis. Nature Materials, vol. 15, 961, 2016.

[6] Yue Shao*, Jianming Sang*, and Jianping Fu. On human pluripotent stem cell control: The rise of 3D bioengineering and mechanobiology. Biomaterials, vol. 52, 26, 2015.

[7] Weiqiang Chen*, Yue Shao*, Xiang Li, Gang Zhao, and Jianping Fu. Nanotopographical surfaces for stem cell fate control: Engineering mechanobiology from the bottom. Nano Today, vol. 9, 759, 2014.

[8] Yue Shao, Hong-Ping Zhao, and Xi-Qiao Feng. Optimal characteristic nanosizes of mineral bridges in mollusk nacre. RSC Advances, vol. 4, 32451, 2014.

[9] Yue Shao, Jennifer M. Mann, Weiqiang Chen, and Jianping Fu. Global architecture of the F-actin cytoskeleton regulates cell shape-dependent endothelial mechanotransduction. Integrative Biology, vol. 6, 300, 2014.

[10] Yue Shao, and Jianping Fu. Integrated micro/nanoengineered functional biomaterials for cell mechanics and mechanobiology: a materials perspective. Advanced Materials, vol. 26, 1494, 2014.

[11] Yue Shao, Hong-Ping Zhao, and Xi-Qiao Feng. On flaw tolerance of nacre: a theoretical study. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 11, 20131016, 2014.

[12] Yue Shao*, Xinyu Tan*, Roman Novitski, Misha Muqaddam, Paul T. List, Laura Williamson, Jianping Fu, and Allen P. Liu. Uniaxial cell stretching device for live-cell imaging of mechanosensitive cellular functions. Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 84, 114304, 2013.

[13] Yue Shao, Hong-Ping Zhao, Xi-Qiao Feng, and Huajian Gao. Discontinuous crack-bridging model for fracture toughness analysis of nacre. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, vol. 60, 1400, 2012.

[14] Yue Shao, and Cun-Jing Lu. A direct proof of uniqueness of square-root of a positive semi-definite tensor. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, vol. 30, 713, 2009.