The motion and deformation of living systems is fundamentally driven out of thermodynamic equilibrium by constant microscopic input of energy. During the development of complex organisms and diseases, biological active matter undergoes self­-organized morphogenesis and chemical pattern formation which rely on the feedback between mechanical and biochemical events, occurring from the molecular scale to the tissue scale. Increasing attention has been attracted to these bio-chemo-­mechanical processes of active matter and the underpinning physics per se. During my PhD, I focused on the coordinated morphogenesis and pattern formation regulated by bio-­chemo-mechanical feedback. By combining interdisciplinary mathematical modelling and multiple numerical simulation methods, I investigated multidisciplinary questions such as growth-induced buckling of organs, chiral morphodynamics of active soft shells, and phase separation of active solids. 

My current research focus lies in broad morphogenesis processes during development and evolution, including neuromechanics, surface buckling of brain and intestine, dynamic tracheal pattern formation, and chemomechanical pattern formation in active matter. By answering specific questions, I aim to unearth the underlying biophysical principles. I aspire to reveal the elegant simplicity and complexity of nature’s designs, thereby offering qualitative and quatitative understanding of the fundamental processes that drive development and evolution.

I joined Harvard SEAS as a postdoctoral fellow in May 2022, working with Prof. L. Mahadevan. I received my PhD in Mechanics from Tsinghua University in Jan 2022, working with Prof. Xi-Qiao Feng, and hold a B.S. degree in Engineering Mechanics also from Tsinghua University (2016).

Research Interests

• Bio-chemo-mechanical theory
• Non-equilibrium physics of active soft matter
• Morphogenesis during development and evolution