American Scientific Publishers give UTA physicist Wei Chen Best Paper Award
American Scientific Publishers, a publisher of scientific journals and books in the fields of science, engineering, and technology, has given Wei Chen, a physics professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, a Best Paper Award for a journal article cited 364 times to date.
“According to a statistical report in the journal Science, only five percent of articles are cited more than 200 times in 10 years after publication, so this is an important recognition of my work,” Chen said. “It also reflects that this paper opens a new area of research where many other scientists are now also working.”
The paper, “Using Nanoparticles to Enable Simultaneous Radiation and Photodynamic Therapies for Cancer Treatment,” was published in the Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in 2006.
For this paper, Chen described how new materials called nanoparticles could be activated by light to produce toxins to kill cancer. This research involved developing the materials and developing an entirely new method to fight cancer.
He has since built out this research with more than 20 further journal articles. The most recent, “A New Modality of Cancer Treatment – Nanoparticle Mediated Microwave Induced Photodynamic Therapy,” generated international interest. This article described how microwaves could be used to activate nanoparticles to fight cancer cells.
“I came to UTA specifically to develop research around this concept and obtained more than $2 million in funding to achieve these advances around nanoparticles and cancer,” Chen said. “I have also patented both the materials and the method and I want to make it commercially available to cancer patients in the future.”
Alex Weiss, UTA chair of physics, congratulated Chen on this achievement and his research program, which contributes to the University’s strategic theme of Health and the Human Condition within the Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions|Global Impact.
“Dr. Chen has carved out an important niche of expertise in using light and nanoparticles to fight cancer,” Weiss said. “This award is recognition of his capacity to produce innovative solutions to pressing health problems.”
About The University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a Carnegie Research-1 “highest research activity” institution. With a projected global enrollment of close to 57,000, UTA is one of the largest institutions in the state of Texas. Guided by its Strategic Plan 2020 Bold Solutions|Global Impact, UTA fosters interdisciplinary research and education within four broad themes: health and the human condition, sustainable urban communities, global environmental impact, and data-driven discovery. UTA was recently cited by U.S. News & World Report as having the second lowest average student debt among U.S. universities. U.S. News & World Report lists UTA as having the fifth highest undergraduate diversity index among national universities. The University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is ranked as the top four-year college in Texas for veterans on Military Times’ 2017 Best for Vets list.
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