MatSE welcomes new assistant professor, Dr. Hua Wang

5/21/2020

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The Department of Materials Science and Engineering welcomes Hua Wang, a new assistant professor, who will start his position in August, 2020. 

Hua Wang joins the department after completing a postdoctoral position with Professor David J. Mooney’s group at Harvard University from 2016 - 2020. He completed a B.S. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2012, and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at Urbana-Champaign in 2016.

Wang’s research will take advantage of several strong affiliations at Illinois, including the Cancer Center at Illinois, Carle College of Medicine, the Department of Bioengineering, and the Beckman Institute.

The Wang Research Lab is actively hiring graduate students and postdoctoral fellows with backgrounds in organic/polymer synthesis, cancer research, tissue engineering and/or immunology.

Wang said that he is looking forward to joining a prestigious department and a top engineering college. He is looking forward to collaborating with a number of faculty members in MatSE and other departments in the Grainger College of Engineering. “I look forward to contributing to the biomaterials direction of the departmental strategic plan and strengthening the link between MatSE and Bioengineering, Carle College of Medicine, and the Cancer Center at Illinois.”

With a theme of leveraging chemistry and materials tools to address biomedical questions and improve human health, Wang’s lab will work on biomaterials, metabolic cell labeling, cancer immunotherapy, and immunoengineering for regenerative medicine. These research directions are built upon his Ph.D. and postdoctoral trainings with his own interpretation of biomedical challenges and opportunities, which he expects will evolve in the future.

“My lab will conduct research at the intersection of multidisciplinary fields across materials science, chemistry, bioengineering, and immunology,” said Wang. “I welcome students from different departments and who are interested in biomedical research to join us. They will be able to acquire versatile skill sets and bring their expertise to interdisciplinary research fields, which will be beneficial for their career development.”

When not conducting research, Hua Wang likes to play soccer and racquetball, and has recently picked up photography as a hobby. “I look forward to moving back to Urbana-Champaign,” he said. “I enjoyed my time here as a graduate student, and feel excited to re-unite with my old friends there!” 

Email the Wang Research Lab at huawang3@illinois.edu to learn more about opportunities in the lab.

 


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This story was published May 21, 2020.