Contact Information
huawang3@illinois.edu
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, Scialog Fellow, Sontag Distinguished Scientist Award, American Cancer Research Scholar Award, and participant of The Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering 2023 Symposium.
Research Interests
- Polymer Chemistry
- Stem Cell Therapy
- Metabolic Cell Labeling and Targeting
- Immunoengineering for Regenerative Medicine
- Cancer Immunotherapy
Research Description
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.
Education
- Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, UIUC (2016)
- B.S. Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (2012)
Awards and Honors
Teaching Honors
- List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students for Spring 2024 - MSE 474-Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, UIUC
- List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students for Spring 2023 - MSE 474-Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, UIUC
Research Honors
- Sontag Distinguished Scientist Award (2024)
- American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award (2024)
- DoD CDMRP Idea Development Award (2024)
- Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research (2024)
- The Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering 2023 Symposium
- Scialog Fellow (2023)
- CMBE Young Innovator (2023)
- NIH NCI R21 grant (1% score, 2023)
- Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust Award (2022)
- Cancer Center at Illinois Bridge Award (2022)
- NIH NCI R01 grant (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)
Courses Taught
Recent Courses Taught
- MSE 457 (CHEM 480) - Polymer Chemistry
- MSE 470 - Design and Use of Biomaterials
- MSE 474 - Biomaterials and Nanomedicine
- MSE 559 - Soft Materials Seminar
- MSE 595 - Materials Colloquium
Additional Campus Affiliations
Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Associate Professor, Materials Research Lab
Associate Professor, Bioengineering
Associate Professor, Biomedical and Translational Sciences
Associate Professor, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
Affiliate, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
Recent Publications
Baskaran, D., Liu, Y., Zhou, J., Wang, Y., Nguyen, D., & Wang, H. (2025). In vitro and in vivo metabolic tagging and modulation of platelets. Materials Today Bio, 32, Article 101719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2025.101719
Bhatta, R., Han, J., Liu, Y., Bo, Y., Wang, Y., Nguyen, D., Chen, Q., & Wang, H. (2025). Injectable extracellular vesicle hydrogels with tunable viscoelasticity for depot vaccine. Nature communications, 16(1), Article 3781. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59278-0
Dwivedy, A., Baskaran, D., Sharma, G., Hong, W., Gandavadi, D., Krissanaprasit, A., Han, J., Liu, Y., Zimmers, Z., Mafokwane, T., Hayah, I., Chauhan, N., Zheng, M., Yao, S., Fraser, K., Decker, J. S., Jin, X., Wang, H., Friedman, A. D., & Wang, X. (2025). Engineering Novel DNA Nanoarchitectures for Targeted Drug Delivery and Aptamer Mediated Apoptosis in Cancer Therapeutics. Advanced Functional Materials, 35(22), Article 2425394. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202425394
Han, J., & Wang, H. (2025). Immune Cell Homing Hydrogels for Cancer Immunotherapy. In Methods in Molecular Biology (pp. 107-116). (Methods in Molecular Biology; Vol. 2902). Humana Press Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-4402-7_6
Liu, Y., Zhou, J., Wang, Y., Nguyen, D., Baskaran, D., Liu, Y., & Wang, H. (2025). RENBP inhibition amplifies metabolic glycan labeling efficiency of antigen-presenting cells in vitro and in vivo. Cell chemical biology, 32(8), 983-993.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2025.07.001