Hua Wang
Primary Research Area
- Cell and tissue engineering - Biomaterials
Research Areas
- Biomaterials
- Cancer
- Drug delivery
- Gene and cell therapy
For More Information
Biography
Dr. Hua Wang joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in August 2020. He obtained his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from UIUC (2016) and did his postdoc with Prof. David J. Mooney at Harvard University and Wyss Institute. His professional awards include Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Student Research Fellowship, Wyss Technology Development Fellowship, NSF CAREER Award, NIH R01 Award, CMBE New Innovator, and Scialog Fellow.
Education
- B.S. Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (2012)
- Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, UIUC (2016)
Academic Positions
- Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
- Member, Cancer Center at Illinois
- Affiliate, Department of Bioengineering
- Affiliate, Carle College of Medicine
- Part-time member, Beckman Institute
- Affiliate, Materials Research Laboratory
- Affiliate, Institute for Genomic Biology
Research Interests
- Polymer Chemistry
- Stem Cell Therapy
- Metabolic Cell Labeling and Targeting
- Immunoengineering for Regenerative Medicine
- Cancer Immunotherapy
- Biomaterials
Research Statement
Our laboratory aims to understand how cells can be manipulated and engineered to facilitate targeted delivery of therapeutics and regulate intercellular interactions, in order to improve and innovate therapies for cancers, injured tissues, autoimmune disorders, and other diseases. In one path towards this goal, we utilize chemistry, chemical biology, and synthetic biology tools to modify or engineer cells for subsequent tracking and targeted modulation in vivo. In another path, we develop biomaterials that can home and manipulate immune cells in vivo, and apply them to the development of cancer vaccines, cell therapies, and medical devices. New molecules, polymers, and biomaterials that can serve as diagnostics, therapeutics, and medical supplies/devices are also of our interest.
Primary Research Area
- Cell and tissue engineering - Biomaterials
Research Areas
- Biomaterials
- Cancer
- Drug delivery
- Gene and cell therapy
Selected Articles in Journals
- Wang H, Mooney D. Metabolic Glycan Labeling for Cancer-Targeted Therapy. Nature Chemistry 2020, 12, 1102-1114. [Link]
- Wang H, Najibi A, Sobral M, Seo BR, Lee JY, Wu D, Li A, Verbeke C, Mooney D. Biomaterial-Based Scaffold for In Situ Chemo-Immunotherapy to Treat Poorly Immunogenic Tumors. Nature Communications 2020, 11, 5696.
- Wang H, Sobral M, Zhang D, Cartwright A, Li A, Dellacherie M, Koshy S, Wucherpfennig K, Mooney D. Metabolic Labeling and Targeted Modulation of Dendritic Cells. Nature Materials 2020, 19, 1244–1252. [Link]
- Wang H, Mooney D. Biomaterial-Assisted Targeted Modulation of Immune Cells in Cancer Treatment. Nature Materials 2018, 17, 761-772. [Link]
- Wang H, Wang R, Cai K, He H, Liu Y, Yen J, Wang Z, Xu M, Sun Y, Zhou X, Yin Q, Tang L, Dobrucka IT, Dobrucki LW, Chaney EJ, Boppart SA, Fan TM, Lezmi S, Chen X, Yin L, Cheng J. Selective In Vivo Cell Labeling Mediated Cancer Targeting. Nature Chemical Biology 2017, 13, 415-424. [Link]
Teaching Honors
- List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students for Spring 2023 - MSE 474-Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, UIUC
Research Honors
- The Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering 2023 Symposium
- Scialog Fellow 2023
- CMBE Young Innovator (2023)
- Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust Award (2022)
- NIH NCI R21 grant (1% score, 2023)
- NIH NCI R01 grant (2022)
- Cancer Center at Illinois Bridge Award (2022)
- NSF CAREER Award (2021)
- Wyss Technology Development Fellow (2017-2020)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Student Research Fellowship (2015-2016)
- Rili Scholarship (2011)
- National Inspirational Scholarship (2011)
- National Undergraduate Innovative Research Funding (2010)
- Scholarship of Dalian Institute of Physics and Chemistry (2010)
- National Inspirational Scholarship (2009)