分类： Core Research Faculty

The laboratory is interested in neural regeneration and translational research, stem cell biology, including maintenance of pluripotency and gene editing of reprogrammed iPSCs, mechanisms governing neurite outgrowth, gait-based performance analysis of neurological dysfunction and deficits, development of cell therapeutic strategies for clinical application, and innovative technologies for disease diagnosis, e.g., biomarkers for neurological diseases

The Ker laboratory has extensive experience in biomaterials development and computer vision-based approaches for musculoskeletal and vascular tissue repair, including biomaterial design and mechanical and geometric cue optimization, and biopatterning of growth factor. This experience will be applied in a combinatorial approach to engineer suture buttons and hierarchical, vascularized muscle flaps for tissue repair.

The Jiang laboratory is involved in creating tissue regeneration strategies for the musculoskeletal system, especially bone and cartilage. Her previous work has identified and characterized the stem/progenitor cells in cartilage (Nat Rev Rheum, 2015) and signaling pathways in osteoarthritis (Arthr Res Ther, 2015), information that has been applied to instruct the production of stem cell-based functional tissue replacements for clinical use, including the repair of osteochondral defect (Stem Cells Transl Med, 2016), classified as Class III Therapeutics in China (J Orthop Transl, 2014). Recent work has focused on NGF mediated signaling changes in osteoarthritis and the role of tissue-specific stem cells (FASEB J, 2019).

Professor Choi’s lab explores how nanoparticles interact with the living system across the length scales of organs, tissues, cell, and organelles, and designs novel bionanomaterials for treating diseases arisen from various biological locations in vivo. The lab addresses the bottleneck of nanomedicine by characterizing organ-, tissue-, and cellular-level distribution of nanoparticles to gain mechanistic insights into how nanoparticles interact with the biological system for the development of design rules for building nanoparticles that can specifically target defined biological destinations. Professor Choi was a recipient of the Croucher Innovation Award.

The Chan laboratory has a long research history on the early development of the central and enteric nervous systems. More recent efforts are devoted to the study of the migration and differentiation of neural crest stem cells and Schwann cell precursors derived from iPSCs. Specifically, the potential application of neural crest-like Schwann cell precursors for the repair of peripheral nerve injuries is being studied, focusing on the genetic and epigenetic controls of cellular migration, proliferation and differentiation.