People

Student/intern opportunities available! See below for details.

Kaicheng LIANG
Assistant Professor
School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CCEB)
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Singapore National Research Foundation Fellow (Class of 2021)

Previous: A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Institute of Microelectronics, Institute of Bioengineering and Bioimaging, Bioinformatics Institute

PhD, MS Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2018)
BS Biomedical Engineering, Duke University (2010)

Google Scholar

Kaicheng’s interests are in techniques and devices for point of care, minimally invasive microscopy in living systems and patients, with a specialization in ultrahigh speed optical coherence tomography (OCT). His experience spans photonics and fiber optics, clinical gastroenterology and endoscopy, medical devices and robotics, and artificial intelligence for image interpretation. His vision is that cutting-edge photonics empowered by machine learning will enable instant microscopic analytics of living tissue at the molecular level and on the scale of entire organs, thereby enhancing the quality and coverage of real-time feedback to clinicians during procedures, and improving patient outcomes.

Born and bred in Singapore, Kaicheng is a Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) Fellow, with substantial funding from the Singapore Government to pursue independent research and advance the country’s scientific and technological edge. He is also a recipient of the A*STAR scholarship, which supported a decade of his education in the United States, as well as the MIT Helen Carr Peake Research Prize and the American Gastroenterology Association Certificate of Recognition for Early Career Investigators for his development of minimally invasive upper endoscopy in awake patients, enabled by his micromotor tethered capsule endoscopic OCT imaging platform.

Kaicheng’s independent career begun in 2020 at the now-defunct A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Bioimaging, with a later brief stint at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology. A*STAR has been a generous supporter of Kaicheng’s research and aspirations, including his transition back to academia in Aug 2024.

Staff

Niall Anthony Hanrahan

Niall received his MSc and PhD from the University of Southampton, UK. His thesis projects was centred on developing new imaging modalities for label-free light sheet microscopy and applying these new tools in biological & biomedical research. His postdoctoral research was centred on developing improved methods for disease identification from bacterial and human samples using Raman spectroscopy, and early-stage commercialisation of these methods. Niall is interested in design and application of new label-free hyperspectral imaging tools and using them in both biological research and in clinical settings, to improve target identification and disease diagnosis.

Muhammad Safwan Bin Burhanudin

Safwan graduated from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) with a bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Bioengineering. He joined A*STAR to pursue his interest in developing medical devices that can help improve early diagnosis and healthcare. He also enjoys tinkering, hoping that he can have his own workshop in the future.

Hong Yixin

Yixin received her B.Eng (Hons) in Bioengineering from Nanyang Technological University, where she worked with the Singapore Centre for 3D Printing on advancing bioprinting techniques for vascular tissue engineering. Yixin hopes to further explore and deepen her understanding of interdisciplinary research in medical biotechnology, aiming to expand her knowledge and potentially contribute to the advancement of healthcare solutions. In her free time, Yixin plays the cello, a pursuit she believes instills grit and inspires new ideas.

Oor Jia Zheng

Jia Zheng received her Bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Pharmaceutical Engineering from the Singapore Institute of Technology and her PhD from Nanyang Technological University. Her research centered on membrane-based pharmaceutical separations, focusing on chiral surface modification, the fabrication of active layers, and their application in enantioseparation. With 12 years of dedicated study and involvement in the pharmaceutical and healthcare fields, Jia Zheng remains deeply motivated by healthcare challenges. She hopes to continue advancing her technical expertise to develop solutions that integrate seamlessly into existing workflows and enhance clinical diagnostics.

Rachel SIM Rui Yi (A*STAR IMCB)

Rachel received her MSci in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry from Imperial College London. She obtained her PhD in Chemical Biology from University of Oxford where she worked on target elucidation of proneurogenic molecules for regenerative therapy. She is interested in the design and application of new chemical tools for target identification and imaging in biological systems. Working alongside scientists and clinicians, she hopes such techniques can be integrated in a multidisciplinary approach to improve clinical diagnosis of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Gaurav Manek (A*STAR IMCB)

Gaurav’s research interests are in robotics and artificial intelligence, with a view to developing practical solutions for the medical field. His current work involves AI for medical decision support and assisted diagnostics, enabled by a novel imaging platform. Working closely with clinicians and researchers, Gaurav hopes to improve medical outcomes and drive down clinical costs through automation. Gaurav received his Sc.B. (Hons) in Computer Science from Brown university and his PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie-Mellon University where he worked on improving stability of offline reinforcement learning.

PhD Students

Alexander YONG Si Kai

Alex graduated from the National University of Singapore with a B.Eng. (Hons) in Biomedical Engineering. He joined A*STAR after gaining an interest in medical research while working at the Singapore Immunology Network for his undergraduate final-year thesis. Alex enjoys integrating principles and tools from the traditional disciplines of biology, engineering, and computing to solve multidisciplinary problems. In 2023, he started his part-time Ph.D. journey at Nanyang Technological University (School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering) under the supervision of Kaicheng and Prof Wonkeun Chang.

Tan Ko Hui

Ko Hui is a PhD student in Nanyang Technological University, co-supervised by Asst Prof Kaicheng Liang and Dr Dedrick Chan (NUS). Her research focuses on driver mutations in colorectal oncogenesis. Prior to her PhD journey, she gained experience in biomedical imaging and gene delivery during her time in A*STAR. She graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Biological Chemistry.

Deng Lingchi

Lingchi received her Bachelor and Master’s degree in Food Sci&Tech from Zhejiang University and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her previous research was in area of AI for Food Science. Now, because of her interest, she converted her research direction to develop intelligence tools for bio image. Although fresh in coding research area, she aspires to integrate AI into science and engineering field. Outside the lab, she enjoys ice skating and building Lego bricks.

Research Students

Valeskha Keneisha Cthio (part-time research)
Rachel Sherafin Korompis (Final year project)
Nurul Amirah Binte Mohamed Imran (Final year project)
Loke Yee Teng (Final year project)
Pranav Manikantan (Final year project)
Yap Junwei (Final year project)
Aastha Singh (URECA) (what is URECA?)
Htoo Myat Noe (URECA)
Timothy Yong (URECA)
Ouyang Wen (MS BME)

Alumni

Rachael Soh, Raffles Institution (JC) student, 6 mth full-time intern (’21) now Imperial College undergrad
Cyrus Tan, NUS BME undergrad, 6 mth part/full-time intern and FYP student (’21, ’22-23)
Whitney Loh, NUS Engineering Science undergrad, 3 mth full-time intern and FYP student (’21, ’22-23)
Tian Wen Yi, NUS BME undergrad, 2 mth full-time intern (’21)
Christine Lim, NTU BME undergrad, 3 mth intern co-advised with Dr J Mong (’21) now Cambridge grad student
Siddarth Sridhar, UWCSEA student, 2 mth full-time intern (’21) now UChicago undergrad
Rebecca Koh, Ngee Ann Polytechnic student, 2 mth and 5 mth full-time intern (’21, ’22-23)
Chloe Tan, Hwa Chong Institution (JC) student, 8 mth part-time intern (’21)
Chiyo Tan, Singapore Polytechnic student, 11 mth full-time intern (’22) now U of Edinburgh vet student
Liaw Zheng Kai, NUS BME undergrad, 7 mth part/full-time intern (’22)
Rachel Chan Chi Kei, NUS Engineering Science undergrad, 3 mth full-time intern (’22) and FYP student (’23-24)
Jessica Kng, Research Officer (’20-22) now U of Leeds grad student
Muhammad Syafiq B Mohd Noor, LMU Munich Master’s student, 10 mth part/full-time intern (’22-23)
Saw Li Yun, Hwa Chong Institution (JC) student, 8 mth part-time intern (’22)
Iris Liu, U of Auckland Mechatronics Engineering undergrad, 3 mth full-time intern (’22-23)
Yang Yuze, NUS BME undergrad, 3 mth full-time intern and FYP student (’22-23) now Ecole Poly grad student
Shen Li Qin, NTU SCSE undergrad, 5 mth full-time intern (’23)
Julian Tan, NUS BME undergrad, 3 mth full-time intern (’23) now Duke-NUS med student
Ha Zhe Li, NUS BME undergrad, 3 mth full-time intern (’23)
Stefanie Lim, Ngee Ann Polytechnic student, 5 mth full-time intern (’23)
Lim Jiyong, Anderson Serangoon JC student, 8 mth full-time intern (’22-23) now NUS ECE undergrad
Jeremy Lee, Raffles Institution (JC) student, 9 mth full-time intern (’22-23)
Dorothy Yuan, NUS Information Systems undergrad, 2 mth full-time intern (’23)
Rachel Tan, Research Officer (’21-23) now MIT PhD student
Joey Chieng, Research Officer (’23-24)
Dr Maria Paulene Abundo, Research Fellow (’23-24)
Dr Zheng Zesheng, Research Fellow (’22-24)
Joel Ang Lang Yi, Research Officer (’20-24)
Tan Sze Yi, Ngee Ann Polytechnic student, 5 mth full-time intern (’23)
Lee Wan Qing, Ngee Ann Polytechnic student, 5 mth full-time intern (’24)
Ervin Chew, Ngee Ann Polytechnic student, 5 mth full-time intern (’24)
Mirdhini Shri Rajaram, Raffles Institution (JC) student, 7 mth full-time intern (’24) now NUS YLL med student
Joshua-Jon Lau, NUS Engineering Science undergrad, FYP student (’23-24)
Dr Nazihah Husna Binte Abdul Aziz, Research Fellow (’23-25)

Opportunities

Now at NTU, the team is growing! We are looking to hire postdocs, PhD students, and undergrad researchers. Happy to host FYP, IRP, URECA etc, please reach out.

Staff (postdocs, officers/assistants): engineering, physics, chemistry, computer/data science, life sciences – any STEM background is great, as long as 1. you are great at it, and 2. you are excited to learn and do a bit of everything else.

Students: any engineering background, even better if you’re from CCEB! Chemists/ biologists are much needed too, if you’re up for a multidisciplinary challenge.

Every day is something different. Contact us to find out more!