Charles Park

Charles Park joins Arizona State University as an assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. He looks forward to fostering a community of learning and collaboration.

Before joining ASU, Park was a research associate at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and held an affiliation with the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. He brings his expertise in immunoengineering through biomaterials, drug delivery and cell therapy design. Because his research draws on multiple fields, Park was drawn to ASU’s interdisciplinary environment and the opportunity to build a research program focused on practical, translatable research.

“The breadth of expertise across ASU creates exciting opportunities to collaborate across engineering, biology and medicine, which is essential for developing new therapeutic approaches for immune-related diseases,” he says.

Though his academic foundation was rooted in chemical engineering, Park’s lab experience working on artificial biohybrid heart muscle cells shifted his perspective on engineering.

“Seeing living cells and engineered materials work together to create coordinated motion showed me how creative and powerful bioengineering could be,” he says. “I realized that I wanted to build my career at the interface of engineering and biology.”

That interest now drives Park’s research into engineering biomaterials, including living cells, to reliably deliver powerful immune signals. Additionally, he wants to explore how machine learning can improve modeling efficiency during the design process.

Park hopes students recognize that the concepts and technologies they learn in class are not abstract ideas, but rather the same tools used every day in hospitals, diagnostic laboratories and other health care settings.

“I want students to understand that asking the right scientific questions can lead to advances that move beyond the laboratory and become practical technologies that improve people’s everyday lives,” he says. “As a mentor, I hope to help them develop the curiosity, confidence and critical-thinking skills needed to make those connections.”

Of his many accomplishments, Park is especially proud to be selected as a 2025 STAT Wunderkind. He views the award as a testament to the interdisciplinary and joint efforts of his collaborators, mentors and trainees, and says it gave him confidence to establish his independent research.

Outside of academia, Park is enjoying learning how to be a father to his newborn, citing it as the fastest-paced learning experience he’s ever had.

Written by Hannah Weisman