Dr Fei Deng

Dr Fei Deng

Research Associate
Engineering
Grad Sch: Biomedical Eng

Dr Deng is currently a researcher at the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, UNSW. Dr Deng received his Ph.D. degree (specialising in point-of-care biosensing and Biomedical Engineering, 2021) from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. Dr Deng’s research interests include point-of-care biosensing device, CRISPR biosensing device and in vivo biosensing device. To date, Dr Deng has published over 30 journal articles, including Nature Communications, AFM, Small etc. In addition, he has secured over $10M research grants, including AEA, CRCP, NHMRC Idea Grant, ARC Discovery Project etc. His biosensor research has been well recognized by industry, leading to a startup company (Casbio Pty Ltd, co-founder) and a research consultant of Avicena Systems Limited.

 

Editorial Activities:

  • Associate Editor for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Devices, Frontiers in Medical Technology. 
  • The host of Bio-focus seminar (2022), CNBP Node at Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering. 

 

Phone
0451876009
  • Journal articles | 2024
    Chen S; Fang R; Li Y; Deng F; Liu X; Yang D, 2024, 'CRISPR/Cas12a-powered CLASA towards OTA ultrasensitive detection in cereal samples', Microchemical Journal, 196, pp. 109691, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2023.109691
    Journal articles | 2024
    Chia S; Guo T; Goldys EM; Payne SC; Duan W; Lovell NH; Shivdasani MN; Deng F, 2024, 'A CRISPR mediated point-of-care assay for the detection of mucosal calprotectin in an animal model of ulcerative colitis', Bioengineering and Translational Medicine, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/btm2.10725
    Journal articles | 2024
    Deng F; Li Y; Yang B; Sang R; Deng W; Kansara M; Lin F; Thavaneswaran S; Thomas DM; Goldys EM, 2024, 'Topological barrier to Cas12a activation by circular DNA nanostructures facilitates autocatalysis and transforms DNA/RNA sensing', Nature Communications, 15, pp. 1818, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46001-8
    Journal articles | 2024
    Deng F; Sang R; Li Y; Yang D; Mckinnirey F; Deng W; Goldys EM, 2024, 'Towards understanding Trans-cleavage of natural and synthetic nucleic acids by Cas12a for sensitive CRISPR biosensing', Microchemical Journal, 207, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2024.111850
    Journal articles | 2024
    Wu X; Pi NN; Deng F; Tang SY; Zhang CC; Zhu L; Sun FF; He XY; Li HQ; Zhao SL; Xiang R; Li Y, 2024, 'Circular DNA enhanced amplification-free CRISPR/Cas12a assays for end-user friendly ultra-sensitive Porphyromonas gingivalis diagnosis', Microchemical Journal, 207, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2024.111983
    Journal articles | 2024
    Xue R; Deng F; Guo T; Epps A; Lovell NH; Shivdasani MN, 2024, 'Needle-Shaped Biosensors for Precision Diagnoses: From Benchtop Development to In Vitro and In Vivo Applications', Biosensors, 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bios14080391
    Journal articles | 2024
    Yang X; Bui TA; Mei H; Aksoy YA; Deng F; Hutvagner G; Deng W, 2024, 'Exploring the Potential and Challenges of CRISPR Delivery and Therapeutics for Genetic Disease Treatment', Advanced Functional Materials, 34, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202402630
    Journal articles | 2023
    Arona JC; Hall TJ; Mckinnirey F; Deng F, 2023, 'Comparison of four commercial immunomagnetic separation kits for the detection of Cryptosporidium', Journal of Water and Health, 21, pp. 1580 - 1590, http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wh.2023.217
    Journal articles | 2023
    Deng F; Li Y; Hall T; Vesey G; Goldys EM, 2023, 'Bi-functional antibody-CRISPR/Cas12a ribonucleoprotein conjugate for improved immunoassay performance', Analytica Chimica Acta, 1259, pp. 341211, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2023.341211
    Journal articles | 2023
    Li Y; Liu L; Qiao L; Deng F, 2023, 'Universal CRISPR/Cas12a-associated aptasensor suitable for rapid detection of small proteins with a plate reader', Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 11, pp. 1201175, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2023.1201175
    Journal articles | 2023
    Zhang C; Tang J; Xie W; Allioux FM; Cao Z; Biazik JM; Tajik M; Deng F; Li Y; Abbasi R; Baharfar M; Mousavi M; Esrafilzadeh D; Kalantar-Zadeh K, 2023, 'Mechanistic Observation of Interactions between Macrophages and Inorganic Particles with Different Densities', Small, 19, pp. e2204781, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smll.202204781
    Journal articles | 2022
    Deng F; Li Y; Li B; Goldys EM, 2022, 'Increasing trans-cleavage catalytic efficiency of Cas12a and Cas13a with chemical enhancers: Application to amplified nucleic acid detection', Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 373, pp. 132767, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2022.132767
    Journal articles | 2022
    Deng F; Li Y; Qiao L; Goldys E, 2022, 'A CRISPR/Cas12a-assisted on-fibre immunosensor for ultrasensitive small protein detection in complex biological samples', Analytica Chimica Acta, 1192, pp. 339351, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2021.339351
    Journal articles | 2022
    Deng F; Qiao L; Li Y, 2022, 'A fluorescent immunosensor on optical fibre for the multiplex detection of proinflammatory cytokines', Sensing and Bio-Sensing Research, 37, pp. 100501, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbsr.2022.100501
    Journal articles | 2022
    Li Y; Deng F; Goldys EM, 2022, 'A simple and versatile CRISPR/Cas12a-based immunosensing platform: Towards attomolar level sensitivity for small protein diagnostics', Talanta, 246, pp. 123469, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2022.123469
    Journal articles | 2022
    Sang R; Deng F; Engel A; Goldys E; Deng W, 2022, 'Lipid-polymer nanocarrier platform enables X-ray induced photodynamic therapy against human colorectal cancer cells', Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, 155, pp. 113837, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113837
    Journal articles | 2021
    Li Y; Deng F; Goldys EM, 2021, 'A versatile CRISPR/Cas12a-based sensitivity amplifier suitable for commercial HRP-based ELISA kits', Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 347, pp. 130533, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2021.130533
    Journal articles | 2021
    Li Y; Deng F; Hall T; Vesey G; Goldys EM, 2021, 'CRISPR/Cas12a-powered immunosensor suitable for ultra-sensitive whole Cryptosporidium oocyst detection from water samples using a plate reader', Water Research, 203, pp. 117553, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117553
    Journal articles | 2020
    Arman A; Deng F; Goldys EM; Liu G; Hutchinson MR, 2020, 'In vivo intrathecal IL-1β quantification in rats: Monitoring the molecular signals of neuropathic pain', Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 88, pp. 442 - 450, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.009
    Journal articles | 2020
    Deng F; Arman A; Goldys EM; Hutchinson MR; Liu G, 2020, 'A Method for in Vivo Quantification of Cytokine IL-1β in the Rat Intrathecal Space', ACS Applied Bio Materials, 3, pp. 539 - 546, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.9b00958
    Journal articles | 2019
    Deng F; Goldys EM; Liu G, 2019, 'Molecularly imprinted polymer-based reusable biosensing device on stainless steel for spatially localized detection of cytokine IL-1Β', Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical, 292, pp. 277 - 283, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2019.04.142
    Journal articles | 2019
    Deng F; Li Y; Hossain MJ; Kendig MD; Arnold R; Goldys EM; Morris MJ; Liu G, 2019, 'Polymer brush based fluorescent immunosensor for direct monitoring of interleukin-1β in rat blood', Analyst, 144, pp. 5682 - 5690, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c9an01300h
    Journal articles | 2019
    Zhang F; Deng F; Liu GJ; Middleton R; Inglis DW; Anwer A; Wang S; Liu G, 2019, 'IFN-γ-induced signal-on fluorescence aptasensors: From hybridization chain reaction amplification to 3D optical fiber sensing interface towards a deployable device for cytokine sensing', Molecular Systems Design and Engineering, 4, pp. 872 - 881, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c9me00047j
    Journal articles | 2018
    Zhang Y; Ge X; Li MC; Deng F; Oh J; Cho UR, 2018, 'The properties of rice bran carbon/nitrile-butadiene rubber composites fabricated by latex compounding method', Polymer Composites, 39, pp. E687 - E696, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pc.24126
    Journal articles | 2017
    Deng F; Li MC; Ge X; Zhang Y; Cho UR, 2017, 'Cellulose nanocrystals/poly(methyl methacrylate) nanocomposite films: Effect of preparation method and loading on the optical, thermal, mechanical, and gas barrier properties', Polymer Composites, 38, pp. E137 - E146, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pc.23875
    Journal articles | 2017
    Ge X; Deng F; Zhang Y; Cho UR, 2017, 'Synergistic reinforcing effects of molybdenum disulfide and bentonite in rubber based nanocomposites', Journal of Vinyl and Additive Technology, 23, pp. E211 - E215, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/vnl.21568
    Journal articles | 2017
    Ge X; Zhang Y; Deng F; Cho UR, 2017, 'Effects of silane coupling agents on tribological properties of bentonite/nitrile butadiene rubber composites', Polymer Composites, 38, pp. 2347 - 2357, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pc.23817
    Journal articles | 2017
    Zhang Y; Ge X; Deng F; Li MC; Cho UR, 2017, 'Fabrication and characterization of rice bran carbon/styrene butadiene rubber composites fabricated by latex compounding method', Polymer Composites, 38, pp. 2594 - 2602, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pc.23852
    Journal articles | 2016
    Deng F; Zhang Y; Ge X; Li M; Li X; Cho UR, 2016, 'Graft copolymers of microcrystalline cellulose as reinforcing agent for elastomers based on natural rubber', Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 133, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/app.43087
    Journal articles | 2016
    Zhang Y; Fei D; Xin G; Cho UR, 2016, 'Surface modification of novel rice bran carbon functionalized with (3-Mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane and its influence on the properties of styrene-butadiene rubber composites', Journal of Composite Materials, 50, pp. 2987 - 2999, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0021998315615202
    Journal articles | 2015
    Deng F; Ge X; Zhang Y; Li MC; Cho UR, 2015, 'Synthesis and characterization of microcrystalline cellulose-graft-poly(methyl methacrylate) copolymers and their application as rubber reinforcements', Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 132, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/app.42666
    Journal articles | 2015
    Zhang Y; Li X; Ge X; Deng F; Cho UR, 2015, 'Effect of coupling agents and ionic liquid on the properties of rice bran carbon/carboxylated styrene butadiene rubber composites', Macromolecular Research, 23, pp. 952 - 959, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13233-015-3127-9
  • Preprints | 2024
    Chia S; Guo T; Goldys E; Payne S; Lovell N; Shivdasani M; Deng F, 2024, A CRISPR mediated point-of-care assay for the detection of mucosal calprotectin in an animal model of ulcerative colitis, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.23.24304787
    Preprints | 2024
    Deng F; Gulati S; Sang R; Li Y; Goldys E, 2024, Modulating Cas13atrans-cleavage by double strand RNA: Application to the development of an autocatalytic sensor, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.05.583472
    Preprints | 2024
    Deng F; Sang R; Li Y; Yang B; Zhai X; Xue R; Zhang C; Deng W; Goldys E, 2024, Hairpin-locker mediated CRISPR/Cas tandem system for ultrasensitive detection of DNA without pre-amplification, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.05.583466
    Preprints | 2024
    Deng F; Sang R; Li Y; Yang D; Deng W; Goldys E, 2024, Towards Understanding Trans-Cleavage of Natural and Synthetic Nucleic Acids by Cas12a for Sensitive CRISPR Biosensing, http://dx.doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-rw2rr
    Conference Papers | 2023
    Deng F; Goldys E; Li Y; SANG R; Hall T; Zhang C, 2023, 'RNA reporter based CRISPR/Cas12a biosensing platform for sensitive detection of circulating tumor DNA', in 2023 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Sydney, pp. 1 - 4, presented at 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Sydney, 24 July 2023 - 27 July 2023, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340759
    Conference Papers | 2023
    Deng F; Kaur J; Goldys E; Morris M, 2023, 'QDs-based fluorescent lateral flow assays for Point-of-care testing of insulin', in Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Sydney, pp. 1 - 4, presented at 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2023, Sydney, 24 July 2023 - 27 July 2023, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340110
    Preprints | 2023
    Deng F; Sang R; Li Y; Deng W; Goldys E, 2023, Bifunctional circular DNA amplifier transforms a classic CRISPR/Cas sensor into an ultrasensitive autocatalytic sensor, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2626952/v1
    Conference Papers | 2023
    Li Y; Deng F; Li Y; Goldys E; Zhang C, 2023, 'Integrated RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a system towards Point-of-Care H. pylori detection', in Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Sydney, pp. 1 - 4, presented at 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2023, Sydney, 24 July 2023 - 27 July 2023, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340749
    Conference Papers | 2023
    Yang D; Deng F, 2023, 'Paper based SERS aptasensor towards dual-modal detection of interferon gamma', Sydney, presented at 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Sydney, 24 July 2023 - 27 July 2023
    Conference Papers | 2023
    Zhang C; Deng F; Goldys E; Hall T; Li Y, 2023, 'Paper-based lateral flow assay for the point-of-care detection of neurofilament light chain', in Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Sydney, pp. 1 - 4, presented at 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2023, Sydney, 24 July 2023 - 27 July 2023, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340109
    Preprints |
    Deng F; Li Y; Li B; Goldys EM, Increasing Trans-Cleavage Catalytic Efficiency of Cas12a and Cas13a with Chemical Enhancers Enables Amplified Nucleic Acid Detection, , http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4091242

 

  • Australia's Economic Accelerator, CIA
  • Cooperative Research Centres Projects, 2024-2026, co-CI 
  • UNSW-Tsinghua Collaborative Research Seed Program, 2023, co-CI
  • NHMRC Idea Grant, 2024-2026, co-CI 
  • ARC Discovery Project, 2024-2026, co-CI 
  • UNSW_NMHA Seed Funidng, 2023, co-CI
  • Torch Innovation, 2023, CIA 
  • Health Security Systems Australia, 2023, co-CI. 
  • NSSN Grand Challenge Fund, 2023, co-CI. 
  • 3Rs Grant from UNSW, 2022, co-CI.
  • Industry competitive research award, 2022-2024, co-CI.
  • Two Innovation connections grants, 2021 (RG211246, RG210091), CI on both.
  • One EDI and ECAN seed funding from UNSW, 2021, CIA.

  1. Australian Centre for NanoMedicine (ACN) Travel Award (2023)
  2. Diversity in Engineering Academic Visitors Funding Award (2023)
  3. UNSW Engineering ECA Awards – Innovation and Engagement Award (2022)
  4. Diversity in Engineering Academic Visitors Funding Award (2023)
  5. ARC Centre for Nanoscale BioPhotonics (CNBP) Travel Award (2022)
  6. Australian Centre for NanoMedicine (ACN) Travel Award (2022)
  7. PhD Scholarship in Sandwich assay based deployable biosensors (2017-2021)
  8. Excellent Graduate Thesis (Master, 2016)
  9. Foreigners Scholarship (Master, 2013-2016)
  10. Secondary Prize of Tianjin chemistry competition (Bachelor, 2011)

Patent

  1. CRISPR/Cas-associated detection assays, methods and kits. (2023) PCT Patent. International application No. PCT/AU2022/050829.  
  2. Ultrasensitive CRISPR biosensors assisted by nucleic acid mediators. (2023) PCT Patent. International application No. PCT/AU2023/051144.  
  3. Biosensor. (2023) Australian provisional patent No. P0046904AU

 

My Research Supervision

PhD Supervision Experience

  1. Co-supervising PhD research project: Development of  rapid and sensitive methods for the detection of waterborne pathogens , 2024 (J. Arona)
  2. Co-supervising PhD research project: Programmable nucleases and applications in biosensing, 2023 (X. Zhai)
  3. Joint-supervising PhD research project: Novel biosensors for exosome detection, 2023 (P. Mohammadnejad)
  4. Co-supervising PhD research project: Capture and detection of waterborne parasites using existing and emergent technologies, 2021 (T. Hall)

 

   Thesis students

  1. Primary-supervised PG Thesis project: CRISPR/Cas powered aptasensor for the point-of-care diagnosis of IBD (K. Lyu), 2024
  2. Primary-supervised PG Thesis project: Precision diagnosis of single gene diseases using CRISPR technology (Y. Lin), 2024
  3. Primary-supervised UG Thesis project: Precision diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease using CRISPR technology (S. Xue), 2023-2024
  4. Primary-supervised UG Thesis project: CRISPR/Cas12a Mediated Biosensing Assay for Point-of-Care Testing of Calprotectin (S. Chia), 2023
  5. Primary-supervised PG Thesis project: Point-of-care testing of procalcitonin using lateral flow assay (J. Deodhar), 2023

My Teaching

1. Instructor, Biomedical Instrumentation - BIOM9640, UNSW

2. Instructor, Applications of Light in Engineering, Technology and the Life Sciences - BIOM9811, UNSW