Aijun Wang, Ph.D.

Dr. Aijun Wang is a Chancellor's Fellow Professor of Surgery and of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). He serves as Vice Chair for Translational Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Surgery, Co-Director of the Center for Surgical Bioengineering, and inaugural Dean's Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the UC Davis School of Medicine. Additionally he is the Principal Investigator at the Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine (IPRM) / Shriners Children's Pediatric Research Center, Northern California. 

Dr. Wang received his Ph.D. in biology from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and underwent postdoctoral training at the UC Berkeley Department of Bioengineering and Berkeley Stem Cell Center, with a postdoctoral fellowship from California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). He has been a faculty member of UC Davis since 2012. 

Dr. Wang's research focuses on developing tools and technologies, and therapeutics that integrate molecular, cellular, tissue and biomaterial engineering to promote regeneration and restore function. The Wang Group integrates single cell spatial multi-omics (transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) to study disease mechanisms and developmental process, and engineers and develops stem cell/gene therapy, extracellular vesicles/nanomedicine, and extracellular matrix/biomaterial scaffolds to treat a wide spectrum of congenital conditions and acquired diseases. Dr. Wang specializes in bringing therapeutics from bench to bedside, through innovative discovery, translational and investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies, current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) manufacturing, and ultimately clinical trials in both human and companion animal patients. 

Dr. Wang has been serving as PI on numerous major research grants supported by NIH/NIBIB, NIH/NICHD, NIH/NINDS, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the University of California Center for Accelerated Innovation (UC-CAI), the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of California (TRDRP), Shriners Hospital for Children and other foundations. Dr. Wang holds more than 20 US and international patents and patent applications, and has published over 190 peer-reviewed papers in top-tier journals, such as Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, ACS Nano, Advanced Functional Materials, Bioactive Materials, Biomaterials, Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, Stem Cells, Stem Cells Translational Medicine, and Theranostics. Dr. Wang has received numerous awards, such as the Deloitte QB3 Award for Innovation (2012), the Tony Phillips Research Award (2014) from the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN), the Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award (2016) from the March of Dimes Foundation, the Technology Development Award (2017) from the NIH/NHLBI through University of California Center for Accelerated Innovation (UC CAI), the UC Davis Health Deans’ Fellowship (2018), UC Davis Health Dean's Team Award for Excellence in Research (2020), UC Davis Chancellor's Fellowship (2020), UC Davis School of Medicine Cultivating Team Science Award (2022), University of California Davis School of Medicine Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research (2024), the KidneyX: Redesign Dialysis Phase 2 Innovation award (2020) from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Sacramento Region Innovation Award (2021). Dr. Wang was inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows in 2024.

Research Interests: 

Stem Cell Biology and Engineering, Extracellular Vesicle-Based Theranostics, Gene Editing and Lipid Nanoparticles, Single Cell Spatial Multi-Omics (Transcriptomics, Proteomics, and Metabolomics), Extracellular Matric and Biomaterial-Based Medical Device Design and Engineering, Tissue Regeneration and Translational Medicine, Investigational New Drug (IND) and Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) enabling studies, and Clinical Trials in Both Human and Companion Animal Patients"
 

Pubmed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/aijun.wang.1/bibliography/53100355/public/?sort=date&direction=descending