Research focus
Professor Yung Chang has been served for 17 years in the Department of Chemical Engineering of Chung Yuan Christian University. Scientific research expertise is quantum physical chemistry, molecular simulation, polymer synthesis, bio-interface science, biomedical membrane engineering, bio-separation engineering, and medical devices. Under the support of the research program from the National Science and Technology, Prof. Chang is committed to the research on “application of biomimetic zwitterionic materials in bio-inert functional control and related medical devices”, “design of intelligent functional dressing for diabetic wound healing”, “biomedical membrane system is designed for leukocyte depletion technology and applied to blood transfusion safety research”, “supramolecular filtration system for exosome separation, purification and recovery applied to disease diagnosis research”, “design and development of blood separation technology for sepsis detection and research”, “thermo-sensitive membrane system for platelet recovery and protein growth factor purification for arthritis treatment research”, and “nanofibers for lymphocyte isolation and purification membrane system”. Prof. Chang has guided and trained 127 research talents in CYCU, and has published more than 250 academic papers with more than 2,500 academic citations and H-index 55 (WOS). In terms of international cooperation, it has conducted a lot of exchanges with research scholars from the United States, Japan, France, Australia, Saudi Arabia and other countries, jointly published more than 60 academic co-authored papers, and regularly held international seminars. He has successively served as the Ministry of Science and Technology Project Evaluation Committee, the Science and Technology Development Funding­­ Evaluation Committee, the Ministry of Defense Research Project Evaluation Committee, the Ministry of Economic Affairs Project Evaluation Committee, the Ministry of Industry Research Institute Internal Project Evaluation Committee and External Review Board for the promotion of university professors. In terms of academic administrative services, he is the director of the university-level research center of CYCU, leading the construction of the “R&D Center for membrane technology”. Representative awards for Professor Chang in past efforts and achievements include the Wu Da-Yu Memorial Award from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Invention Award from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Asian Chemistry Outstanding International Research Award, the Engineering Award of the Japanese Chemical Engineering Society, and the Academic Award of the Taiwan Chemical Engineering Society, Taiwan Chemical Engineering Society Chemical Technology Award, Chung Yuan University Research Excellence Award, Chung Yuan University Industry-University Cooperation Outstanding Award, Chung Yuan University Technology Transfer Lifetime Achievement Award, etc. He has successively won 2 Research Excellence Awards, 4 Distinguished Professorships, Lifetime Achievement Award for Invention Patent and Lifetime Achievement Award for Technology Transfer. Professor Chang’s remarkable achievements in chemical engineering technology are the expansion of biomimetic zwitterionic materials and membrane systems for the separation and purification of human blood cells, blood bacteria and growth factors with specific contributions to the prevention of transfusion side effects, sepsis diagnosis, and arthritis treatment.

Experience sharing
Prof. Yung Chang’s technical fields include zwitterionic materials, surface modification technology, bio-inert processing technology, polymer biomedical membranes, smart medical devices and blood separation technology. Under the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Industry-University Cooperation Program, it is committed to the development of related technologies and products such as biomedical materials, biomedical films, medical components and medical devices. He executed 34 enterprise-commissioned development projects. The technological research and development achievements have applied for 55 invention patents, of which 38 have been certified and 21 have been authorized. In 2016, he founded PuriBlood Biotechnology, a campus start-up company, to promote technology licensing and commercialization. Since 2009, Professor Chang has led his team to develop the “Human Leukocyte Reduction System”. From the proof of concept to the completion of human blood transfusion trials, from the mature technology TRL1 to TRL7, the whole process lasted 8 years. In 2015, the patented invention “Zwitterionic Charge-Biased Material for Blood Cell Screening” can remove 1 white blood cell from an average of 1,250 blood cells without hemagglutination, allowing patients to obtain safer medical quality during blood transfusion. In 2016, the invention of leukodepletion technology was handed over to a new business team, and PuriBlood Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was established, and a research and development laboratory was set up in Zhubei Biomedical Park. It has made substantial contributions to the national society in terms of blood transfusion safety and safeguarding the health and safety of Taiwan people. Prof. Chang has won 26 technology transfer awards, including the CYCU University Industry-University Excellence Award, Industry-University Cooperation Outstanding Contribution Award, Invention Award, Invention Patent Lifetime Achievement Award, Outstanding Invention Award, and Excellence Award, Outstanding Technology Transfer Award, Technology Transfer Lifetime Achievement Award, and many other industry-academia excellence awards. Among his outstanding contributions to specific engineering fields, Prof. Chang invented leukocyte depletion technology that can be used for disease prevention. The developed leukocyte removal device product was approved by the US FDA in 2018, and obtained the Taiwan TFDA product marketing approval in 2019. In 2020, it was promoted the official entry of filter-related products into the medical market in Taiwan and the United States. In 2021, the start-up company PuriBlood entered the public offering and listing application. In 2022, the start-up company, PuriBlood, officially entered the cabinet, and the company scale exceeded NT$1.6 billion in market value.