Matthew Chang is Dean’s Chair in Medicine and Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Synthetic Biology at the National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. He is concurrently the Director of several research institutes across Singapore. These include the NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), the university’s focal research programme for synthetic biology, as well as the Synthetic Biology Translational Research Programme (Syn Bio TRP). At the same time, he is the Director of the Wilmar-NUS Corporate Laboratory, a research partnership between NUS and the agribusiness company Wilmar International Limited, and the Singapore Consortium for Synthetic Biology (SINERGY), an initiative that actively promotes collaboration across academia, industry, and government.

Chang’s research focuses on the engineering of biology to develop programmable cellswith specific functionalities for biomedical and biomanufacturing applications. To date, hehas published over 120 research papers and patents, and his scientific contributions have been recognized with numerous media recognitions and honors, including the Investigatorship Award from the National Research Foundation of Singapore, the NUHS-Mochtar Riady Pinnacle Research Excellence Award, the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies Presidential Award, and the Scientific and Technological Achievement Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Beyond his accomplishments in the laboratory, Chang is also highly engaged in scientific outreach and leadership. He has given over 160 invited talks at key scientific conferences and meetings, and he serves as an editor and editorial board member for over 15 leading scientific journals. He also sits on the advisory committees of international synthetic biology programmes such as the CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, Synthetic Biology Africa, and the E.U.’s Horizon 2020. Recognising the importance of fostering collaborative networks, he co-led the establishment of the Asian Synthetic Biology Association (ASBA) and the Global Biofoundry Alliance (GBA), on top of co-chairing the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Synthetic Biology. 

Chang is committed to mentoring the next generation of synthetic biology talent and has trained over 50 undergraduate and high school students, 20 PhD students, and 40 research scientists. Many of his former trainees now hold prominent leadership positions in academia, government, and industry. As a passionate advocate for interdisciplinary science, Chang actively promotes the integration of engineering, biological, medical, and social sciences through education and public science outreach initiatives.