Christopher Chang

About

Christopher Chang is the Edward and Virginia Taylor Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry at Princeton University. His laboratory studies the chemistry and biology of the elements, advancing new concepts in imaging, proteomics, drug discovery, and catalysis by drawing from core disciplines of inorganic, organic, and biological chemistry. His research includes developing activity-based sensing as a platform to identify transition metals, reactive oxygen species, and one-carbon units as single-atom signals for allosteric regulation of protein function. These chemical tools reveal metal and redox disease vulnerabilities, serving as targets for drug discovery efforts to treat neurodegeneration, cancer, and metabolic disorders. His work encompasses the bioinorganic chemistry of transition metal signaling, particularly focusing on nutrients like copper and iron as dynamic signals beyond their traditional roles as cofactors. He develops activity-based sensing probes for imaging metal pools and identifying allosteric metal sites in proteins, which are used to decipher complex biological processes related to sleep, cognition, obesity, and disease states such as cancer and neurodegeneration. Chang's research also pioneers activity-based sensing for imaging one- and two-carbon metabolites, elucidating their influence on genetic and epigenetic regulation in cancer metabolism, neurodegeneration, and immune responses. Additionally, his group establishes the field of single-atom signaling,…

Research topics

• Nuclear physics
• Mechanics
• Computer Science
• Physics
• Engineering
• Materials science
• Environmental science
• Atomic physics
• Nuclear engineering

Selected publications

• Overview of JET results for optimising ITER operation

  Nuclear Fusion · 2022 · 131 citations

  Abstract The JET 2019–2020 scientific and technological programme exploited the results of years of concerted scientific and engineering work, including the ITER-like wall (ILW: Be wall and W divertor) installed in 2010, improved diagnostic capabilities now fully available, a major neutral beam injection upgrade providing record power in 2019–2020, and tested the technical and procedural preparation for safe operation with tritium. Research along three complementary axes yielded a wealth of new…

  DOI

• Enhanced performance in fusion plasmas through turbulence suppression by megaelectronvolt ions

  Nature Physics · 2022 · 92 citations

  DOI

• NSTX-U research advancing the physics of spherical tokamaks

  Nuclear Fusion · 2024-03-06 · 48 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The objectives of NSTX-U research are to reinforce the advantages of STs while addressing the challenges. To extend confinement physics of low- A , high beta plasmas to lower collisionality levels, understanding of the transport mechanisms that set confinement performance and pedestal profiles is being advanced through gyrokinetic simulations, reduced model development, and comparison to NSTX experiment, as well as improved simulation of RF heating. To develop stable non-inductive scena…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Broadening of the Divertor Heat Flux Profile in High Confinement Tokamak Fusion Plasmas with Edge Pedestals Limited by Turbulence in DIII-D

  Physical Review Letters · 2024-06-07 · 15 citations

  articleOpen access

  Multimachine empirical scaling predicts an extremely narrow heat exhaust layer in future high magnetic field tokamaks, producing high power densities that require mitigation. In the experiments presented, the width of this exhaust layer is nearly doubled using actuators to increase turbulent transport in the plasma edge. This is achieved in low collisionality, high confinement edge pedestals with their gradients limited by turbulent transport instead of large-scale, coherent instabilities. The e…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Reconstruction and interpretation of ionization asymmetry in magnetic confinement via synthetic diagnostics

  Nuclear Fusion · 2024-06-07 · 13 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Strong poloidal refueling asymmetry in the DIII-D tokamak is inferred from line radiation measurements. Synthetic diagnostics in neutral transport modeling coupled to gyrokinetic simulations illuminate implications for the plasma flow profile in the scrape-off layer of single-null beam-driven discharges. Recycling occurs primarily either on the inner or outer divertor legs, depending on the toroidal magnetic field direction. By reversing the toroidal magnetic field, the observed line ra…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• S. Ku

  477 shared

• R. Hager

  Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

  279 shared

• Scott Parker

  Duke University

  183 shared

• R.M. Churchill

  Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

  166 shared

• P. H. Diamond

  Queen Mary University of London

  106 shared

• Scott Klasky

  103 shared

• J. Dominski

  Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

  97 shared

• Zhihong Lin

  91 shared

Labs

• Chris Chang GroupPI

Education

• PhD, Physics

  University of Texas at Austin

  1979

Awards & honors

• 2024 – ACS Bader Award in Bioorganic or Bioinorganic Chemist…
• 2022 – Ivano Bertini Award, International Conference on Copp…
• 2021 – Guggenheim Fellowship
• 2020 – Humboldt Award
• 2019 – Sackler Prize in Chemistry

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