Hongshen Ma

Dr. Hongshen Ma is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He also holds associate appointments in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Urologic Sciences, and the Vancouver Prostate Centre. His research focuses on developing microfluidic and computational technologies to analyze cellular biomechanics, particularly in red blood cells and circulating tumor cells, with applications in malaria diagnostics, cancer therapeutics, and blood quality assessment. Dr. Ma earned his B.A.Sc. in Engineering Physics from UBC, followed by M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Media Lab studies at MIT.

His educational background includes undergraduate training at UBC and advanced studies at MIT, where he specialized in electrical engineering and media technologies. His work bridges microfabrication, machine learning, and biomedical applications, leading to innovations like See-N-Seq for single-cell sequencing and deformability-based cell sorting systems.

Research interests include cell biomechanics, single-cell analysis, and lab-on-a-chip technologies. Key projects address malaria biomarkers, circulating tumor cell isolation, and red blood cell storage degradation. His lab, the Multi-Scale Design Laboratory, emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches combining engineering and medicine.

• Awards: 2014 Maud Menten New Principal Investigator Finalist Prize (CIHR)
• Lab Affiliations: Multi-Scale Design Laboratory, Centre for Blood Research, Vancouver Prostate Centre
• Grants & Funding: Active in securing research grants for microfluidic device development and biomedical applications

Dr. Ma’s publications span high-impact journals like Lab on a Chip, Communications Biology, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, with a focus on translating engineering innovations into clinical diagnostics and therapies.