Assistant Professor

Sep 2013 - Aug 2020: Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University

Nov 2016 - May 2017: Visiting Doctoral Researcher, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

Sep 2009 - Jul 2013: B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University

Jan 2025 - present: Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University

Feb 2023 - Dec 2024: Assistant Researcher, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University

Jan 2021 - Jan 2023: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University

Biomaterials Engineering and Devices (co-taught)

Exploration of Biomedical Mechanical Engineering (co-taught)

Biomanufacturing and Medical Equipment (co-taught)

Medical Materials and Engineering

Addressing major healthcare needs at the frontiers of regenerative medicine, Dr. Fang focuses on the biofabrication of engineered hearts. His work addresses three fundamental challenges in organ fabrication: balancing printability with tissue function, coupling complex organs with three-dimensional vasculature, and coordinating microscopic cell orientation with macroscopic organ architecture. He has developed microgel-based biphasic bioinks, printing in pore-forming support baths, sequentially nested embedded printing, and flow-guided helical assembly, enabling the integrated fabrication of complex organ structures, fine vascular networks, and aligned functional tissues. These approaches have been validated for myocardial infarction repair and extended to liver, bone, and neural tissue engineering.

Extending this work to space biofabrication, his team developed an automated 3D bioprinting and culture system for spaceflight and achieved the world's first satellite-based on-orbit 3D printing of complex tumor models. The team also found that drug-resistant cancer cells showed increased sensitivity to chemotherapy under space conditions. His ongoing research explores AI-enabled organ fabrication and regenerative repair, personalized cardiac patches, cyborg artificial ventricles, and the integration of flexible electronics with living tissues.

He has led projects funded by the General Program and Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Beijing Nova Program, the Beijing Natural Science Foundation General Program, and the National Key R&D Program of China, among others. He has published as a first or corresponding author in Cell Biomaterials, Matter, Trends in Biotechnology, Advanced Materials, and other journals. His research has been featured by Guangming Online, MIT Technology Review, and other media outlets.

The group maintains long-standing collaborations with leading research groups in the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Postdoctoral applications are welcome year-round, and the group supports applications to programs such as the Shuimu Tsinghua Scholar Program. Outstanding applicants from China and abroad with backgrounds in mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science, life sciences, chemistry, or related disciplines are welcome to apply for graduate study. Undergraduate students are also welcome to participate in research training. Interested candidates should email a CV and a statement of research interests to fangyc@tsinghua.edu.cn.

He serves on the committees of the Biofabrication and Additive Manufacturing Branches of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, as a council member of the Beijing Society for Biomedical Engineering, and as a member of the Structural Heart Disease Committee of the Chinese Research Hospital Association. He co-chaired biofabrication-related symposia at ICCES in 2025 and 2026 and received the ICCES 2026 Outstanding Symposium Organization Award. He has delivered invited talks at international meetings, including the International Conference on Biofabrication and TERMIS-AP annual conferences.

He is an Associate Editor of Journal of Polymer Materials and a Guest Editor for Polymers and Micromachines. He serves on the editorial or early-career editorial boards of The Innovation, Exploration, Bio-Design and Manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing Frontiers, BMEMat, and other journals. He guest-edited a Bio-Design and Manufacturing special issue on AI-enabled biofabrication and received the journal's 2026 Outstanding Guest Editor Award. He has also been recognized as an Outstanding Young Editorial Board Member by journals including Additive Manufacturing Frontiers.

2026 - Beijing Nova Program

2026 - Outstanding Young Researcher Award, ICCES

2025 - Outstanding Oral Presentation Award, China Biomaterials Conference

2024 - New Investigator Award, International Society for Biofabrication (ISBF)

2024 - Second Prize, Invention Award, China Machinery Industry Science and Technology Award

2024 - Silver Medal, International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, for sequentially nested embedded printing of complex organs containing biomimetic vascular or neural networks

2024 - Bronze Medal, International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, for space-based 3D tumor-model printing technology and its automated system

2023 - Young Talent Support Program, Beijing Association for Science and Technology

He has published more than 30 papers as a first or corresponding author in Cell Press journals (Cell Biomaterials, Matter, and Trends in Biotechnology), Advanced Materials, Materials Today, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Science, Biomaterials, and other journals. Among these, eight are ESI Highly Cited Papers, ESI Hot Papers, or articles featured on journal covers. He has published more than 50 papers in total, with over 2,500 citations on Google Scholar. He is named as an inventor on more than 20 published invention patent applications and granted patents and has contributed to academic monographs, including 3D Printing of Biomaterials: Technologies and Applications.

Selected Publications (# co-first author; * corresponding author)

1. Niltongkam Ponpaphas, Song Xinrong, Liu Yuhan, Hu Jingqi, Xiong Zhuo, Fang Yongcong^*. Engineering Regenerative Cell Therapy Products through Biofabrication. Trends in Biotechnology, 2026 (in press) (corresponding author)

2. Song Xinrong, Yang Pengcheng, Liu Yuhan, Sun Shijie, Hu Jingqi, Xiong Zhuo^*, Fang Yongcong^*. Harnessing Bioengineering Strategies for Heart Regeneration towards Clinical Translation. Advanced Science, 2026 (in press) (co-corresponding author)

3. Fang Yongcong^#*, Lu Bingchuan^#, Sun Ruobin^#, Yang Pengcheng, Ye Yuxuan, Ye Min, Zhang Zhenrui, Yang Yi, Liu Zibo, Xia Jingjing, Zhang Ting^*, Xiong Zhuo^*. Scalable fabrication of aligned myocardial tissues with native-like helical architecture for heart repair. Cell Biomaterials, 2026, 2: 100306 (co-first and co-corresponding author)

4. Zhang Zhenrui, Zhou Jinpeng, Dong Jiaxin, Hong Shaotong, Fang Yongcong^*, Xiong Zhuo^*, Zhang Ting^*. A design-to-manufacturing framework for graded woodpile structures via programmable dual-resolution material extrusion. Additive Manufacturing, 2026: 105294. DOI: 10.1016/j.addma.2026.105294. (co-corresponding author)

5. Fang Yongcong, Yang Huayong^*. Can AI transform biofabrication for clinical translation? Bio-Design and Manufacturing, 2026, 9(1): 1-3 (first author)

6. Zhou Xianhao, Zhang Zhenrui, Yu Jintian, Ma Lixi, Ma Sicheng, Wu Bingyan, Wang Zixuan, Zhang Ting, Fang Yongcong^*, Xiong Zhuo^*. AI-driven interpretation and prediction of embedded printability based on rheology. Bio-Design and Manufacturing, 2026, 9(1): 63-79 (co-corresponding author)

7. Fang Yongcong^*, Hao Wenshuai, Xiong Zhuo^*. On-orbit 3D bioprinting for tumor modeling in space. Trends in Biotechnology, 2025, 43(11): 2690-2693. (first and co-corresponding author)

8. Fang Yongcong^*, Wu Bingyan, Wang Zixuan, Xiong Zhuo^*. Biofabrication beyond Earth: Intelligent bioprinting for space medicine. Matter, 2025, 8(10): 102460. (first and co-corresponding author)

9. Zhang Zhenrui^#, Zhou Xianhao^#, Fang Yongcong^*, Xiong Zhuo^*, Zhang Ting^*. Artificial intelligence-driven 3D bioprinting for regenerative medicine: from bench to bedside. Bioactive Materials, 2025, 45: 201-230. (co-corresponding author; ESI Hot Paper)

10. Duan Jing, Fang Yongcong^*, Tian Yueming, Wang Ziyu, Yang Bin^*, Xiong Zhuo^*. 3D bioprinting of prevascularized bone organoids for rapid in situ cranial bone reconstruction. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2025, 14(16): 2501376. (co-corresponding author)

11. Deng Heyuan, Fang Yongcong^*, Gao Zhengxun, Wu Bingyan, Zhang Ting^*, Xiong Zhuo^*. Mechanical regulation and 3D bioprinting of native tissue-inspired granular composite hydrogels. Bio-Design and Manufacturing, 2025, 8(4): 570-580. (co-corresponding author)

12. Tian Yueming, Zhang Zhenrui, Wu Bingyan, Liu Zibo, Zhang Ting, Fang Yongcong^*, Xiong Zhuo^*. Integrating periosteum derived organoids and 3D printed scaffolds for enhanced craniofacial bone regeneration. Materials Today Communications, 2025, 49: 113931. (co-corresponding author)

13. Mo Xingwu^#, Zhang Yanmei^#, Wang Zixuan^#, Zhou Xianhao, Zhang Zhenrui, Fang Yongcong^*, Fan Zilian, Guo Yihan, Zhang Ting^*, Xiong Zhuo^*. Satellite-based on-orbit printing of 3D tumor models. Advanced Materials, 2024, 36(34): e2309618. (co-corresponding author)

14. Wu Bingyan^#, Zeng Zhaoxi, Fang Yongcong^*, Zhang Zhenrui, Tian Yueming, Lu Bingchuan, Li Binhan, Liu Zibo, Zhang Ting, Xiong Zhuo^*. Omnidirectional elastic constraint-based embedded 3D printing in non-yield stress fluids for engineering complex tissues. Materials Today, 2024, 80: 74-86. (co-corresponding author)

15. Zhou Xianhao^#, Fang Yongcong^*, Zhang Ting, Xiong Zhuo^*. Retrospective: advances and opportunities of 3D bioprinting in China over three decades. Additive Manufacturing Frontiers, 2024, 3(4): 200157. (co-corresponding author)

16. Fang Yongcong^*, Xiong Zhuo^*. Towards personalized medicine: unlocking on-demand organ manufacturing through 3D bioprinting. The Innovation Life, 2024, 2: 100096. (first author)

17. Fang Yongcong, Guo Yihan, Wu Bingyan, et al. Expanding embedded 3D bioprinting capability for engineering complex organs with freeform vascular networks. Advanced Materials, 2023, 35(32), 2205082. (first author; cover article; ESI Highly Cited Paper)

18. Fang Yongcong^#, Wang Chengjin^#, Liu Zibo, et al. 3D printed conductive multiscale nerve guidance conduit with hierarchical fibers for peripheral nerve regeneration. Advanced Science, 2023, 10(12): 2205744. (first author; ESI Highly Cited Paper)

19. Fang Yongcong, Ji Mengke, Yang Yi, et al. 3D printing of vascularized hepatic tissues with a high cell density and heterogeneous microenvironment. Biofabrication, 2023, 15(4): 045004. (first author)

20. Fang Yongcong, Ji Mengke, Wu Bingyan, et al. Engineering highly vascularized bone tissues by 3D printing of prevascularized spheroids. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2023, 15(37): 43492-43502. (first author)

21. Fang Yongcong, Guo Yihan, Ji Mengke, et al. 3D printing of cell-laden microgel-based biphasic bioink with heterogeneous microenvironment for biomedical applications. Advanced Functional Materials, 2022, 32(13): 2109810. (first author)

22. Fang Yongcong, Sun Wei, Zhang Ting, et al. Recent advances on bioengineering approaches for fabrication of functional engineered cardiac pumps: A review. Biomaterials, 2022, 280: 121298. (first author)

23. Fang Y, Ouyang L, Zhang T^*, Wang C, Lu B, Sun W. Optimizing bifurcated channels within an anisotropic scaffold for engineering vascularized oriented tissues. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2020, 9: 2000782. (first author)

24. Fang Yongcong, Zhang Ting, Zhang Lei, Gong Wenfang, Sun Wei. Biomimetic design and fabrication of scaffolds integrating oriented micro-pores with branched channel networks for myocardial tissue engineering. Biofabrication, 2019, 11(3): 035004. DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/ab0fd3. (sole first author)