Professor Chia-Ching Chang is a Biological Physicist. Professor Chang is a full Professor in the Department of Biological Science and Technology, at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. Prof. Chang was co-appointed as Research Fellow by the Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, too. At the same time, Prof. Chang was also appointed as an adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrophysics, and the International College of Semiconductor Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. Professor Chang is also the Fellow of Vebleo and Fellow of IAAM. 

        My research interest is focusing on biointerface science and technology. Unlike conventional biointerface sciences which merely focus on molecules, cells, or tissue systems, my research interests are integrating the knowledge of Physics, Materials, Electronics, Chemistry, and Biotechnology in developing and characterizing the “Novel functional Biomaterials”, “Biophotonics”, “Protein folding”, “Biosensors” and “Bio-electronics devices” of interest and gaining the knowledge of these novel issues.

My research is in the field of Molecular Biological Physics. My research topics are focused on developing novel functional chimeric biomaterials, which are integrated biomolecules and non-biomolecules/substrates, and revealing their physical mechanisms. 

1. Memristor, memcapactor, and NDR nanowire device development and mechanism revealing

Memristor is a two-terminal circuit element and the resistance of the system varies according to the “history” of applied voltage or currents. I initiated the idea that metal ions may possess different resistance at different redox states. Therefore, a metal ions chain with various redox ratios may be used to store the external information by external bias and measuring their resistance changes of the metal ions chain. Moreover, the metal ion can be thought of as a conducting particle that carries a charge. Namely, the ion particles may possess specific capacitance. By changing the redox state of the metal ions and the capacitance may change accordingly. By using DNA as self-assembly template Ni ions are aligned and form a DNA based-Ni ions nanowire (Ni-DNA). I have demonstrated and proved that the Ni-DNA possesses the room temperature negative differential resistance (NDR) property. This property can be used for memcomputing. The achievements have been published in Nano Research, NPG Asia Materials, and Nano Letters, recently.

2. Portable, rapid, and ultrasensitive biosensing system development

Bio-conjugation is an essential process that allows biomolecules to immobilize evenly on the surface of an electrode with a suitable density. An effective bio-conjugation process can increase the sensitivity and specificity of biosensing devices. We have developed a flexible Pd-nano-thin-film (NTF) electrode with a (1 1 1) containing surface, DNA/protein probes can be quickly immobilized in as short a period as 20 min, which is 24 times faster than that on the gold electrode. By using this system, cancer cells, viruses, and anti-cancer drugs or anti-virus drugs can be screened. These achievements have been published in Biosensors & Bioelectronics, Applied Physics Letters, and Nanotechnology, recently.

3. Theranostics, targeting, and drug delivery nanoparticles development

By using the self-assembly process theranostics with photodynamic and chemotherapy nanoparticles have been developed and which demonstrate the potential for biomedical therapy. The achievement has been published in ACS Nano recently. By using the protein folding process, the hydrophobic apolipoprotein B nanoparticle can be refolded. This particle can be used as a drug delivery vehicle. Both hydrophobic and amphiphilic anti-cancer drugs can be encapsulated into these reconstitute particles. We have demonstrated efficacy improvement both in cell and animal models. This can be used for personalized medicine. By conjugating the cancer-targeting molecules with photo-reactive nanodiamonds, the complex can be used for targeted cancer therapy. The achievements of these study are published in Applied Physics Letters and ACS Applied Materials Interface, recently.