Rate My Professor Zhugen Yang

Zhugen Yang is a Professor of Biosensing and Environmental Health at Cranfield University's Water Science Institute, leading the UKCRIC-funded Advanced Sensors Laboratory focused on the water-environment-health nexus since 2019. He joined Cranfield University as a Lecturer in Sensor Technology in 2019, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2022, and to Professor in 2023. Previously, he was a Lecturer at the University of Glasgow from 2018 to 2019, following a postdoctoral position at the University of Cambridge. His academic qualifications include a PhD from the University of Lyon (Ecole Centrale de Lyon) in France, an MSc from Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), and a BEng from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in China. Professor Yang has secured over £20 million in research funding, with £10 million as principal investigator, from sources such as UKRI (EPSRC, NERC, BBSRC, MRC), The Leverhulme Trust, The Royal Society, The Royal Academy of Engineering, and governmental bodies including UKHSA, Home Office, Defra, and the Environment Agency.

His research centers on developing low-cost, rapid point-of-use sensors and microfluidic devices for environmental monitoring, public health surveillance, and biomedical diagnostics, particularly origami paper-based sensors for detecting infectious diseases like SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater as part of the UK National Wastewater Surveillance Program (N-WESP). With over 120 peer-reviewed publications and an H-index of 46, notable works include 'Low-cost and rapid sensors for wastewater surveillance at low-resource settings' (Nature Water, 2023), 'Paper microfluidic sentinel sensors enable rapid and on-site wastewater surveillance in community settings' (Cell Reports Physical Science, 2024), 'Paper-based devices as a new tool for rapid and on-site monitoring of ‘superbugs’' (Environmental Science & Technology, 2021), and 'Paper Device Combining CRISPR/Cas12a and Reverse-Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for SARS-CoV-2 Detection in Wastewater' (Environmental Science & Technology, 2022). His innovations have resulted in several UK and PCT patents, a spin-out company at Cranfield, and global recognition, including the James J. Morgan ES&T Early Career Award Honourable Mention (2021), Leverhulme Research Leadership Award (2023-2028), UKRI NERC Personal Fellowship, EU Marie Curie Fellowship, and features in Science, BBC News, The Washington Post, and the London Science Museum. He has delivered numerous invited and keynote talks at international conferences and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).