Chih Kuan Tung

Bio

Chih-kuan grew up in Taiwan, received his BS from National Taiwan University and PhD from Princeton University, both in physics. He then took up postdoc positions at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, University of Pittsburgh, and Cornell University, before joining A&T faculty in 2006. Since Princeton, his research has focused on using micro/nanofabricated devices for biological applications. At Cornell, Chih-kuan noticed that sperm exhibit interesting emergent behaviors, which became his current research focus. Trained as a physicist, he is interested in the fundamental physics in living systems.

Research Interests

Biological physics, microfluidic in vitro models for biological systems, collective dynamics and phase separation of cells. Soft and active matters. Influence of physical environment on mammalian sperm motility.

Recent Publications

• Shobitha Unnikrishnan, Robert Scott, Emmanuel Ogundele, Mohammad Azad, Kenta Ishimoto, Susan Suarez, Chih Kuan Tung. Hybrid motility mechanism of sperm at viscoelastic fluid-solid interface. Scientific Reports.14, pp. 21841, (2024). 
• Chih Kuan Tung, Caesar Lockhart, Floyd James (2024). (Physics 1 Lab Manual). (1) Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
• Charles Packard, Shobitha Unnikrishnan, Shiva Phuyal, Soon Hon Cheong, M Manning, Chih Kuan Tung, Daniel Sussman. Self-organized vortex phases and hydrodynamic interactions in Bos taurus sperm cells. Physical Review E 110, pp. 014407, (2024).
• Shiva Phuyal, Susan Suarez, Chih Kuan Tung. Biological benefits of collective swimming of sperm in a viscoelastic fluid. Front. Cell Dev. Biol.10, pp. 921623. (2022).
• Chih Kuan Tung, Susan Suarez. Co-adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization. Cells 10, pp. 1297, (2021).
• Benjamin Walker, Shiva Phuyal, Kenta lshimoto, Chih Kuan Tung, Eamonn Gaffney. Computer-assisted beat-pattern analysis and the fagellar waveforms of bovine spermatozoa. Royal Society Open Science 7, pp. 200769 (2020).
• Chungwei Lin, Tim Marks, Milutin Pajovic, Shinji Watanabe, Chih Kuan Tung. Model parameter learning using Kullback-Leibler divergence. Physica A 491, pp. 549 (2018).
• Chih Kuan Tung, Chungwei Lin, Benedict Harvey, Alyssa Fiore, Florencia Ardon, Mingming Wu, Susan Suarez. Fluid viscoelasticity promotes collective swimming of sperm. Scientific Reports 7, pp. 3152 (2017).
• Wei Song, Chih Kuan Tung, Yen-Chun Lu, Yehudah Pardo, Mingming Wu, Moumita Das, Der-I Kao, Shuibing Chen, Minglin Ma. Dynamic self-organization of microwell-aggregated cellular mixtures. Soft Matter 12, pp. 5739 (2016).
• Florencia Ardon, Ross Markello, Lian Hu, Zarah Deutsch, Chih Kuan Tung, Walaa Alshafie, Thomas Yaros, Robert Gilbert, Mingming Wu, Susan Suarez. Dynamics of bull sperm interaction with epithelium differ between oviductal isthmus and ampulla. Biology of Reproduction 95(4), pp. 90 (2016).
• Beum Kim, Lubna Richter, Nicholas Hatter, Chih Kuan Tung, Beth Ahner, Mingming Wu. An array microhabitat system for high throughput studies of microalgal growth under controlled nutrient gradients. Lab on a Chip 15(18), pp. 3687 (2015).
• Chih Kuan Tung, Florencia Ardon, Anubhab Roy, Donald Koch, Susan Suarez, Mingming Wu. Emergence of upstream swimming via a hydrodynamic transition. Physical Review Letters 114(10), pp. 108102 (2015).
• Yu Huang, Chih Kuan Tung, Anqi Zheng, Beum Kim, Mingming Wu. Interstitial flows promote amoeboid over mesenchymal motility of breast cancer cells revealed by a three dimensional microfluidic model. Integrative Biology 7(11), pp. 1402 (2015).
• Chih Kuan Tung, Lian Hu, Alyssa Fiore, Florencia Ardon, Dillon Hickman, Robert Gilbert, Susan Suarez, Mingming Wu. Microgrooves and fluid flows provide preferential passageways for sperm over pathogen Tritrichomonas foetus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(17), pp. 5431 (2015).
• Chih Kuan Tung, Florencia Ardon, Alyssa Fiore, Susan Suarez, Mingming Wu. Cooperative roles of biological flow and surface topography in guiding sperm migration revealed by a microfluidic model. Lab on a Chip 14(7), pp. 1348, (2014).
• Chih Kuan Tung, Oleh Krupa, Elif Apaydin, Jr-Jiun Liou, Anthony Diaz-Santana, Beum Kim, Mingming Wu. A contact line pinning based microfluidic platform for modelling physiological flows. Lab on a Chip 13(19), pp. 3876 (2013).
• Bret Davis, Junhan Pan, Chih Kuan Tung, Robert Austin, Robert Riehn. Sensing DNA with alternating currents using a nanogap sensor embedded in a nanochannel device. Nano LIFE 3(01), pp. 1340007, (2013).
• Hanna Salman, Naama Brenner, Chih Kuan Tung, Noa Elyahu, Elad Stolovicki, Lindsay Moore, Albert Libchaber, Erez Braun. Universal protein fluctuations in populations of microorganisms. Physical Review Letters 108(23), pp. 238105 (2012).
• Qiucen Zhang, Guillaume Lambert, David Liao, Hyunsung Kim, Kristelle Robin, Chih Kuan Tung, Nader Pourmand, Robert Austin. Acceleration of emergence of bacterial antibiotic resistance in connected microenvironments. Science 333(6050), pp. 1764–1767 (2011).
• Robert Austin, Chih Kuan Tung, Guillaume Lambert, David Liao, Xiuqing Gong. An introduction to micro-ecology patches. Chemical Society Reviews 39(3), pp. 1049–1059 (2010).
• Chih Kuan Tung, Robert Riehn, Robert Austin. Complementary metal oxide semiconductor compatible fabrication and characterization of parylene-C covered nanofluidic channels with integrated nanoelectrodes. Biomicrofluidics 3(3), pp. 031101 (2009).
• Shuang Lim, Robert Riehn, Chih Kuan Tung, William Ryu, Rui Zhuo, Joanna Dalland, Robert Austin. (Upconverting nanophosphors for bioimaging). (40) 20, pp. 405701. Nanotechnology (2009).
• Robert Riehn, Walter Reisner, Jonas Tegenfeldt, Yan Wang, Chih Kuan Tung, Shuang-Fang Lim, Edward Cox, James Sturm, Keith Morton, Steven Chou, others (2007). (Nanochannels for Genomic DNA Analysis: The Long and the Short of It). pp. 151–186. Integrated Biochips for DNA Analysis.
• Chih-Yuan Hsiao, Yen Sun, Wei-Liang Chen, Chih Kuan Tung, Wen Lo, Jiunn-Wen Su, Sung-Jan Lin, Shiou-Hwa Jee, Gwo-Jen Jan, Chen-Yuan Dong. Effects of different immersion media in multiphoton imaging of the epithelium and dermis of human skin. Microscopy Research and Technique 69(12), pp. 992–997 (2006).
• Shuang Lim, Robert Riehn, William Ryu, Nora Khanarian, Chih Kuan Tung, David Tank, Robert Austin. In vivo and scanning electron microscopy imaging of upconverting nanophosphors in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nano Letters 6(2), pp. 169–174 (2006).
• Chih Kuan Tung, Yen Sun, Wen Lo, Sung-Jan Lin, Shiou-Hwa Jee, Chen-Yuan Dong. Effects of objective numerical apertures on achievable imaging depths in multiphoton microscopy. Microscopy Research and Technique 65(6), pp. 308–314 (2004).
• Chih Kuan Tung, Susan Suarez. Co-adaptation of Physical Attributes of the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract and Sperm to Facilitate Fertilization. Cells 10, pp. 1297 (2021).