TNT Lab

Prof Chen’s work to date has produced over 1000 peer-reviewed publications (total citations > 145,000, H index 200 based on Google scholar as of July 10, 2024). He was on Clarivate's annual list of Highly Cited Researchers for the past 5 years. Based on World Scientist and University Rankings 2023 (AD Scientific Index), his total H index is ranked No. 4 in Singapore (No. 2 in the last 6 years) and No. 1 in Natural Science. His research continues to be state-of-the-art, innovative, and collaborative and is largely focused on the development of theranostics that can be clinically translatable. He is also the founding editor of the journal “Theranostics” (current impact factor 12.4), which is a leading journal in experimental medicine.  Shawn’s ground-breaking works have not only uncovered exciting new molecular imaging probes and nanomaterials, but also have potential utilization of such new molecules for applications in medicine and drug development, gene therapy and immunotherapy of a variety of diseases. These are areas that are currently rapidly and extensively developing around the world, creating new diagnosis and treatment modalities that are currently not available.
It is important to highlight that Shawn is renowned not only for his basic medical research, but also for clinical translation of his work. For example, 177Lu-LNC1004 developed by Prof. Chen is a new therapeutic radiopharmaceutical that has received approval from US FDA, Singapore HAS and China NMPA, to treat patients with advanced solid tumors, especially those who have metastasis to remote organs/tissues. The clinical data obtained so far suggest substantially better progression survival rate (PFS) and overall response rate (ORR) than the current standard of care. Prof. Chen also came up with a platform technology to further develop various types of radiopharmaceuticals as precision medicine to treat cancer, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune diseases. So far, Prof. Chen’s team has secured over 10 INDs in total for disease diagnosis and therapy, which will eventually shape the future of how cancer patients will be managed and effectively treated. A start-up company (Yantai LNC) co-founded by him (https://en.dc-lnc.com/) has completed round B+ financing.    
The scientific excellence and expertise of Shawn has been recognized in various forums in the scientific world. He is a member of the editorial board of journals such as Accounts of Chemical Research, Bioconjugate Chemistry, ACS Nano, Journal of Nuclear Medicine, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and so on and reviewer of many different journals. He received the NIBIB Mentor Award (2012), NIH Director’s Award (2014), Inaugural ACS Bioconjugate Chemistry Lectureship Award (2016), Michael J. Welch Award (2019), Journal of Nanobiotechnology (JNB) Trailblazer Award (2023), Advanced Materials Hall of Fame (2023). He was also elected to become the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) fellow in 2017, and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Fellow in 2020, member of Academia Europaea (2024), and fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (2024).