Dr. James H-C. Wang is an Associate Professor and Director of the MechanoBiology Laboratory within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Wang received his BS degree in Solid Mechanics and his M.S. degree in Biomechanics from Tongji University in Shanghai, China. He came to the USA in 1991 to attend the University of Cincinnati, where he received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering in 1996. After fellowships at Texas University Health Science Center in El Paso, Texas, Johns Hopkins Medical School and Washington University in St Louis, Dr. Wang joined the University of Pittsburgh and the MSRC in 1999.
Due to his research efforts, Dr. Wang has been featured in several publications and was the recipient of the Hulda Irene Duggan Arthritis Investigator Award by the Arthritis Foundation in 2001. Primarily, his research is in the area of cellular and tissue mechanobiology. He is specifically interested in studying cellular biological responses and extracellular matrix remodeling under repetitive mechanical loading, and improving the biological, biochemical and biomechanical properties of the healing tendon and ligament with functional tissue engineering. In addition, he is interested in probing and controlling individual cellular phenotype expression with MEMS technology. Currently, through funding by the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Arthritis Foundation and the Whitaker Foundation, Dr. Wang is directing several projects including:
- A multidisciplinary study of the pathophysiology of tendinitis
- Microarray (Gene-Chip) analysis of differential gene expression in human tenon fibroblasts subjected to cyclic mechanical stretching
- Regulation of tendon fibroblasts contraction to enhance biological, biochemical and biomechanical properties of the healing tendon
- Application of cellular force monitor to studying extracellular matrix remodeling by mechanical forces
- The effects of cell organization on biochemical compositions of extracellular matrix
CONTACT INFORMATION
Dr. James H-C. Wang
Phone: (412) 648-9102
Email: wangjc@upmc.edu