Welcome to my page! I am Yuwen Wang, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. My research focuses on nano-biomaterials and functional hydrogels for musculoskeletal disease treatment. Currently, I develop nature-inspired nanoparticles for bone regeneration and establish organ-on-a-chip platforms for disease modeling.
I hold a B.Sc. in Applied Chemistry from Shandong University (2020) and an M.Res. in Nanomaterials from Imperial College London (2021). My research interest includes: Smart nanoparticles, Functional hydrogel systems, and Advanced organ-on-a-chip platforms for: Musculoskeletal regeneration and Anti-aging therapeutics.
🔥 News
- 2025.05: 🎉🎉 Our team (Yuwen Wang, Zhilong Zhou, Runxuan Cai, Jun Liu, and Songlin He) won 2nd Prize in the 11th Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. | [Link]
- 2025.05: 🎉🎉 I won the Champion award at the CUHK Three Minute Thesis Competition. | [Link]
- 2025.05: 🎉🎉 I won the Best poster award at Westlake Conference on Advanced Regenerative Engineering in Hangzhou, China.
- 2024.09: 🎉🎉 I won the Best student oral presentation award at 8th China-Europe Symposium on Biomaterials in Regenerative Medicine in Nuremberg, Germany.
- 2024.03: 🎉🎉 A paper entitled “Musculoskeletal Organs-on-chips: An Emerging Platform for Studying the Nanotechnology-Biology Interface” has been published by Advanced Materials.
- 2023.05: 🎉🎉 A paper entitled “Advances in enantiomer-dependent nanotherapeutics” has been published by ACS Nano.
- 2022.12: 🎉🎉 A paper entitled “Analysis of nanomedicine efficacy for osteoarthritis” has been published by Advanced NanoBiomed Research.
- 2021.11: 🎉🎉 I graduated with a M.Res degree from Imperial College London.
📝 Selected Publications
Advanced Functional Materials 2025
Chiral engineered biomaterials: new frontiers in cellular fate regulation for regenerative medicine
Yuwen Wang, Xin Zhang, Denghui Xie, Chunying Chen, Zhifeng Huang, Zhong Alan Li
- In this review, we first summarize the chiral nano-/microstructures that can be used for regenerative medicine applications, including chiral nanomaterials, chiral supramolecular hydrogels, and chiral topography. Computational and simulation methods that can be used to study chiral structures are systematically summarized. In addition, the mechanisms by which chiral engineered biomaterials affect cellular responses will be comprehensively reviewed in terms of cell adhesion receptors, intracellular signaling pathways, and regulation of gene expression profiles. Specific examples will be used to illustrate the ability of chiral biomaterials to direct cell fate decisions, such as inducing stem cell differentiation along specific lineages or regulating macrophages to different phenotypes.
Advanced Materials 2024
Yuwen Wang, Patrick Yung, Gang Lu, Yuwei Liu, Changhai Ding, Chuanbin Mao, Zhong Alan Li, Rocky S Tuan
- This review examines recent advances in musculoskeletal organ-on-a-chip (MSK OoC) platforms, focusing on their capacity to replicate biophysical/biochemical cues in MSK tissues. We discuss how nanotechnology integration enables precise manipulation of the nanoscale environment to study cellular responses and tissue behaviors. MSK OoCs facilitate analysis of disease mechanisms (e.g., bone/joint/muscle degeneration) and personalized drug screening. Future challenges include developing advanced sensing, immune-component integration, and enhanced biomimetic functionality. Ultimately, we highlight how MSK OoCs advance understanding of the nanotech-MSK biology interface to innovate personalized therapeutic strategies.
🎖 Honors and Awards
- Best oral presentation award, 2nd GBA Orthopaedics Postgraduate Academic Forum, 2025
- Second prize, The 11th Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, 2025
- Best poster award, 2025 Westlake Conference on Advanced Regenerative Engineering, 2025
- Champion, CUHK 3 Minutes Presentation Competition, 2025
- Champion, CUHK BME 3 Minutes Presentation Competition, 2025
- Best student oral presentation award, 8th China-Europe Symposium on Biomaterials in Regenerative Medicine, 2024
- Outstanding graduate, Shandong University, 2020
- Excellent student scholarship, Shandong university, 2019
📖 Educations
- 2023.08 - now,
Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China. - 2020.10 - 2021.11,
Master of Research in Nanomaterials, Imperial College London, UK. - 2016.09 - 2020.06,
Bachelor of Science in Applied Chemistry, Shandong University, China.
💬 Talks
- 2024.09, The 8th China-Europe Symposium on Biomaterials in Regenerative Medicine, Dipeptide Encoded Chiral Gold Nanoparticle for Enantiomer-Dependent Osteogenesis.
💻 Work experience and Internships
- 2022.06 - 2023.06,
Postgraduate Researcher, National University of Singapore, Singapore. - 2021.11 - 2022.02,
Research Intern, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. - 2019.01 - 2019.03,
Global Volunteer, Sustainable Development Goal Quality Education, Italy.