(Photo/Courtesy of Keyue Shen)
A USC engineer who has spent his career studying living cells in complex tissue environments has earned one of the highest honors in his field. Keyue Shen, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at USC Viterbi’s Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), one of the highest professional honors in the field. The distinction recognizes engineers whose work has made significant contributions to research, education or innovation in medicine and biology.
AIMBE cited Shen for “developing bio-inspired in vitro models and non-invasive biomarkers to capture cell signaling in microenvironments and discover disease therapeutics.” His work integrates engineered systems, imaging, and computation to understand how cells behave, communicate, and make decisions within complex biological environments.
“It’s validating,” Shen said. “It shows that people know my work and recognize its importance.”
A focus shaped by curiosity
Shen’s interest in cells grew out of a desire to understand how life works at its most basic level. Before pursuing his Ph.D., he studied DNA and other cellular components, which introduced him to fundamental questions in biology. He went on to earn his doctorate in biomedical engineering from Columbia University in 2010, where he began exploring questions at the intersection of engineering and biology, with an increasing focus on how cells behave rather than just what they are made of.
That shift shaped the direction of his work. He became interested in how cells respond to challenges, how they change over time and, most importantly, how they communicate with one another within complex microenvironments to keep the body functioning.
“Every single cell is a living being in your body,” he said. “They have to collaborate in certain ways to keep you alive.”
That idea continues to guide his research. Rather than studying cells in isolation, Shen’s lab develops bio-inspired in vitro systems and measurement approaches that allow researchers to track cell signaling and behavior in real time, while preserving the context in which those cells function.
From basic science to real-world impact
Shen’s research spans several areas, but all are connected by a common goal: understanding how cells behave in ways that can inform disease research and medical treatment. Early in his career, he showed that changing how signals are arranged around immune cells can alter how those cells function, an insight that helped open new directions in studying immune responses and their role in disease.
More recently, his work has focused on stem cells, especially blood stem cells that can develop into different types of cells. His team has helped explain how these stem cells find and stay in the specific places in the body where they can survive and do their job, a process that is critical for treatments such as bone marrow transplants. By improving understanding of how stem cells behave in these environments, the research could help scientists find ways to grow larger numbers of them outside the body, addressing a major limitation in current therapies.
Another central focus of Shen’s lab is understanding how immune cells tackle cancer cells within tumors. By combining engineered microenvironments, imaging and computational tools, his team can observe how immune cells change over time and how they respond to different tumor conditions, including low-oxygen (hypoxic) environments that are common in solid tumors. These approaches are now being applied to brain tumors, where understanding how immune cells respond in controlled settings could help guide the development of more effective immunotherapies.
Shen’s research has also contributed to the development of non-invasive biomarkers that reflect underlying cell signaling states, opening the door to more precise and dynamic approaches to leukemia treatment.
Looking ahead, Shen believes his research could help shape medical care over the next five to 10 years, particularly by improving how scientists evaluate therapies and match treatments to individual patients.
“If we can measure each patient’s cells and understand how they respond, we can make better decisions about treatment,” he said.
While the AIMBE honor marks a significant milestone, Shen sees it as part of a larger effort to connect fundamental research with practical applications. His focus remains on developing tools and insights that can move discoveries from the lab into clinical use and ultimately improve patient care.
“I’d like to be remembered as someone who helped us understand cells better,” he said. “And that understanding helped improve how we treat disease and take care of people.”
Published on April 23rd, 2026
Last updated on April 23rd, 2026