Dr Hui Chai-Gao works as an expert at the Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) in surface bioengineering for various applications (biosensor technology, biochips manufacturing, bioassay development and biomaterial). She is a biochemist, the co-inventor of seven patents and has authored and co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles. She received her BS and MS degrees in chemistry from Nankai University, China, and received her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Bern in 1994.
During more than 20 years of working at the CSEM or its spin-off companies, Dr Chai-Gao has created a versatile linker technology (OptoDex®, a photolinker polymer) for diagnostic and medical applications. OptoDex®-mediated immobilisation allows single-step covalent binding of any type of (bio)-molecule, including, for example, proteins, enzymes, hapten-conjugates or polysaccharides.
Dr Chai-Gao also has experience in the development of instrumentation for life sciences, specifically optical biosensors. She has been involved in the development of various biosensors and has performed many bioassays with sensors, including food quality control, antibiotic detection, water contamination monitoring (bacteria, pesticides and herbicides) and biomarker detection for clinical diagnostics, which has led to the establishment of several methodologies and benchmarks.
