Fei Chen, Ph.D.

Associate Researcher | Master’s Supervisor | Hunan Provincial High-Level Young Talent
Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University

📧 Email: fechen@csu.edu.cn
🔗 ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fei-Chen-106

🔗 Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=e_NViRYAAAAJ&hl=de
🔗 ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7600-1945

Biography

Dr. Fei Chen is an Associate Researcher and Master’s Supervisor at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Central South University. He is a recipient of the Hunan Provincial Excellent Young Scholar Award (YouQing).

From 2024 to 2025, he is seconded to the Department of Science and Education, National Health Commission of China, contributing to major national projects including the National Science and Technology Major Project on Innovative Drug Development and the National Key R&D Program on Reproductive Health and Maternal and Child Health.

Dr. Chen earned his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany (2015–2019) under Prof. Katharina Landfester, and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Münster Medical School (2019–2020) with Prof. Seraphine Wegner. He holds a M.S. from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, China (2012–2015, advisor: Prof. Xingjie Liang), and a B.S. from the School of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (2008–2012).

Research Interests

Dr. Chen’s research focuses on early disease diagnosis and therapy, particularly:

• Photodynamic and sonodynamic antimicrobial and antitumor therapeutics

• Molecular probes and biomaterials for theranostics

• Innovative integration strategies for diagnosis and therapy

He integrates chemical design, nanotechnology, and bioengineering to develop smart therapeutic platforms.

Grants & Awards

• Principal Investigator, Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation Excellent Young Scholar Project (YouQing)

• Completed projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Youth Program), Hunan Provincial Science Foundation (Youth Program), and Hunan Provincial Department of Education Excellent Youth Project

• Core member in Sino-German collaborative research projects and NSFC interdisciplinary programs

• Second Prize, Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award (2024)

Publications

Dr. Chen has published over 60 SCI papers, cited >1,700 times, including nearly 30 first- or corresponding-author papers in top journals. Publications are listed below:

1.      Cheng, X.; Yin, Y.; Fang, Y.; Zhou, X.; Guo, H.; Fan, D.; Zheng, F.; Ding, J.; Chen, F.;* Zeng, W.* Breaking the Depth Barrier: Dual-Activated Radical Storm from a Natural Product-Based Nanoplatform for Spatiotemporally Controlled Deep Tumor Sonodynamic Therapy. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2025, e14995. （IF= 19.0，自然指数期刊）

2.      Liu, X., Ren, Y., Fan, D., Huang, S., Ma, Y., Ding, J., Luo, Z., Chen, F.,* Zeng, W. * Shining Light on Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infections: Rational Design of Multifunctional Organosilver-Based AIEgen Probes as Light-Activated Theranostics for Combating Biofilms and Liver Abscesses. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2023, 33, 2304974. （IF= 19.0，自然指数期刊）

3.      Fan, D.; Liu, X.; Ren, Y.; Luo, Z.; Li, Y.; Dong, J.; Wegner, S. V.; Chen, F.;*  Zeng, W. * Harnessing antimicrobial peptide-coupled photosensitizer to combat drug-resistant biofilm infections through enhanced photodynamic therapy. Acta Pharm. Sin. B. 2024, 14(4), 1759-1771（IF= 14.6，ESI高被引）

4.      Luo, Z.; Cheng, X.; Feng, B.; Fan, D.; Liu, X.; Xie, R.; Luo, T.; Wegner, S. V.; Ma, D.; Chen, F.,* Zeng, W. * Engineering Versatile Bacteria-Derived Outer Membrane Vesicles: An Adaptable Platform for Advancing Cancer Immunotherapy. Adv. Sci. 2024, 11 (33), 2400049. （IF= 14.3）

5.      Xie, R.; Fan, D.; Cheng, X.; Yin, Y.; Li, H.; Wegner, S. V.; Chen, F.;* Zeng, W.*Living therapeutics: Precision diagnosis and therapy with engineered bacteria. Biomaterials 2025, 321, 123342. （IF= 12.9）

6.      Feng, B.; Ma, Y.; Zheng, F.; Huang, X.; Feng, X.; Zhang, K.; Liu, L.; Chen, F.;* Zeng, W., * Development of near-infrared lysosomal pH-activatable fluorescent probe for real-time visualization of autophagy progression. Chem. Eng. J. 2023, 464, 142554.（IF= 13.2）

7.      Zheng, Y.; ¹ Chen, F.;¹ Frank, S.; Quispe Haro, J. J.; Wegner, S. V.* Three-Color Protein Photolithography with Green, Red, and Far-Red Light. Small 2024, 20, 2405687. （IF= 12.1）

8.      Yin, Y.; Cheng, X.; Xie, R.; Fan, D.; Li, H.; Zhong, S.; Wegner, S. V.; Zeng, W.*; Chen, F.* Empowering bacteria with light: Optogenetically engineered bacteria for light-controlled disease theranostics and regulation. J. Control. Release 2025, 383, 113787. （IF= 11.5）

9.      Chen, F., Zeng, W., and Wegner, S. V. Ultrasound-activated bacteria with thermostat controls as living therapeutics. Matter 2022，5, 2416–2419. (IF= 17.5)

10.   Xie, R.; Fan, D.; Fang, Y.; Zhu, T.; Li, H.; Yin, Y.; Liu, X.; Ma, Y.; Chen, F.;* Zeng, W.* Dissolving Microneedles Embedded with Photosensitizers for Targeted Eradication of Gram-Positive Bacteria in Multidrug-Resistant Biofilms in Diabetic Wound Infections. Adv. Healthc. Mater. 2025, 14 (15), 2405190. （IF= 9.6）

11.   Yin, Y.; Cheng, X.; Fan, D.; Fang, Y.; Li, H.; Zhou, X.; Guo, H.; Zeng, W.; Chen, F. Harnessing Membrane-Targeting Photosensitizers to Evoke Ferroptosis and Pyroptosis Dual-Modal Cell Death for Antitumor Therapy. Mol. Pharm. 2025，DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.5c01042（IF= 4.5）

12.   Fan, D.; Xie, R.; Liu, X.; Li, H.; Luo, Z.; Li, Y.; Chen, F.,* Zeng, W. * A peptide-based pH-sensitive antibacterial hydrogel for healing drug-resistant biofilm-infected diabetic wounds. J. Mater. Chem. B. 2024, 12 (22), 5525-5534. （IF= 6.1）

13.   Zheng, F., Ma, Y., Ding, J., Huang, S., Zhang, S., Huang, X., Feng, B., Zeng, H., Chen, F., * Zeng, W. * Ratiometric and discriminative visualization of autophagic processes with a novel dual-responded lysosome-specific fluorescent probe. Biomater. Res. 2023, 27(1), 66-77.（IF= 8.1）

14.   Huang, X.;¹ Chen, F.;¹ Ma, Y.; Zheng, F.; Fang, Y.; Feng, B.; Huang, S.; Zeng, H.; Zeng, W., De novo design of a novel AIE fluorescent probe tailored to autophagy visualization via pH manipulation. Biomater. Res. 2023, 27 (1), 20-37.（IF= 8.1）

15.   Liu, X.; Fan, D.; Ren, Y.; Huang, S.; Ding, J.; Liu, M.; Wegner, S. V.; Hou, J.; Rong, P.; Chen, F.;* Zeng, W., * Photo-Activable Organosilver Nanosystem Facilitates Synergistic Cancer Theranostics. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2023, 15 (1), 711-722.（IF= 8.5）

16.   Liu, X.; Fan, D.; Feng, X.; Zheng, Y.; Wegner, S. V.; Liu, M.; Chen, F.;* Zeng, W. * (2022). Breaching Bacterial Biofilm Barriers: Efficient Combinatorial Theranostics for Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Biofilms with a Novel Penetration-Enhanced AIEgen Probe. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14 (37), 41671-41683.（IF= 8.5）

17.   Chen, F.; Dong, J.; Sun, W.; Di Iorio, D.; Wegner, S. V.; Zeng, W. Editorial: Construction of smart materials for biomedical application. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 2023, 11, 1278243.（IF= 4.3）

18.   Liu, X.; Fan, D.; Feng, X.; Zheng, Y.; Wegner, S. V.; Liu, M.; Chen, F.;* Zeng, W. * (2022). Breaching Bacterial Biofilm Barriers: Efficient Combinatorial Theranostics for Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Biofilms with a Novel Penetration-Enhanced AIEgen Probe. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14 (37), 41671-41683.（IF= 8.5）

19.   Zheng, F.; Huang, X.; Ding, J. P.; Bi, A.; Wang, S.; Chen, F.; * Zeng, W., * NIR-I Dye-Based Probe: A New Window for Bimodal Tumor Theranostics. Front. Chem. 2022, 10 (1), 1-23.（IF= 3.8）

20.   Song, R.; Ma, Y.; Bi, A.; Feng, B.; Huang, L.; Huang, S.; Huang, X.; Yin, D.; Chen, F.; * Zeng, W., * Highly selective and sensitive detection of arsenite ions(iii) using a novel tetraphenylimidazole-based probe. Anal. Methods 2021, 13 (42), 5011-5016. （IF= 2.7）

21.   Chen, F.; Wegner, S. V., Photoswitchable bacteria-bacteria adhesions enable the control of multicellular bacterial communities by using blue light. ACS Synthetic Biology 2020, 9 (5), 1169–1180. （IF= 3.8）

22.   Chen, F.; Rachel L. Warnock, Jan Roelof Van der Meer,Wegner, S. V., Bioluminescence-Triggered Photoswitchable Bacterial Adhesions enable Higher Sensitivity and Dual-readout Bacterial Biosensors for Mercury. ACS Sensors 2020, 5 (7), 2205–2210. (IF= 8.9)

23.   Chen, F.; Ricken, J.; Xu, D.; Wegner, S. V., Bacterial Photolithography: Patterning Escherichia coli Biofilms with High Spatial Control Using Photocleavable Adhesion Molecules. Advanced Biosystems 2019, 3 (3), 1800269. （IF= 3.2）

24.   Chen, F.; Wegner, S. V., Implementation of Blue Light Switchable Bacterial Adhesion for Design of Biofilm. Bio-protocol, 2018, 8 (12), e2893.

25.   Chen, F.; Wegner, S. V., Blue Light Switchable Bacterial Adhesion as a Key Step toward the Design of Biofilms. ACS Synthetic Biology 2017, 6 (12), 2170-2174.（IF=3.8）

26.   Zhao, Y.;¹ Chen, F.;¹ Pan, Y.; Li, Z.; Xue, X.; Okeke, C. I.; Wang, Y.; Li, C.; Peng, L.; Wang, P. C.; Ma, X.; Liang, X. J., Nanodrug Formed by Coassembly of Dual Anticancer Drugs to Inhibit Cancer Cell Drug Resistance. ACS applied materials & interfaces 2015, 7 (34), 19295-305.（IF= 8.5）

27.   Chen, F.; Zhao, Y.; Pan, Y.; Xue, X.; Zhang, X.; Kumar, A.; Liang, X. J., Synergistically Enhanced Therapeutic Effect of a Carrier-Free HCPT/DOX Nanodrug on Breast Cancer Cells through Improved Cellular Drug Accumulation. Molecular pharmaceutics 2015, 12 (7), 2237-44.（IF= 4.5）

28.   Kumar, A.;¹ Chen, F.;¹ Mozhi, A.; Zhang, X.; Zhao, Y.; Xue, X.; Hao, Y.; Zhang, X.; Wang, P. C.; Liang, X. J., Innovative pharmaceutical development based on unique properties of nanoscale delivery formulation. Nanoscale 2013, 5 (18), 8307-8325.（IF= 8.0）

Patents

1.      Chen, F.; Ruyan Xie; Wenbin Zeng; Duoyang Fan; Haohan Li. Photodynamic Targeted Antibacterial Microneedle Patch, Its Preparation Method, and Application. China, 2025-03-05, CN 202510256204.X

2.      Wenbin Zeng; Meihui Liu; Xiaohui Liu; Chen, F.; Shi Li; Chengkun Xie; Zuyuan Liu. Aryl-Bisimidazole Compounds, Preparation Methods, and Pharmaceutical Applications. China, 2024-07-16, CN 202210877081.8 (Authorized)

3.      Wenbin Zeng; Duoyang Fan; Chen, F.; Xiaohui Liu; Jie Dong; Ziheng Luo; Yanbing Li. Novel Peptide-Coupled Drug Compounds, Their Preparation, and Application. China, 2023-12-12, CN 202311701040.4

4.      Wenbin Zeng; Xiaohui Liu; Chen, F.; Jie Dong; Duoyang Fan; Ziheng Luo. Light-Activated Integrated Nanomaterial for Chemophotodynamic Cancer Therapy and Its Preparation and Application. China, 2022-12-22, CN 202211654902.8

5.      Xingjie Liang; Chen, F.; Yuanyuan Zhao. Multi-Drug Self-Assembled Composite Nanoparticles and Their Preparation and Application. China, 2016-09-07, CN 201310533322.8 (Authorized)

6.      Xingjie Liang; Yuanyuan Zhao; Chen, F., et al. Hydroxycamptothecin Liposome Nanoparticles and Preparation Method. China, 2016-01-20, CN 201410016965.X (Authorized)

7.      Xingjie Liang; Yuanyuan Zhao; Chen, F., et al. Irinotecan Liposomal Nanoparticles and Preparation Method. China, 2016-06-29, CN 201410014128.3 (Authorized)

8.      Xingjie Liang; Chan Li; Chunqiu Zhang; Chen, F., et al. Irinotecan Hydrochloride Liposomal Nanoparticles and Preparation Method. China, 2015-11-04, CN 201410344489.4 (Authorized)