Aijun Wang, Ph.D. for UC Davis Health

Aijun Wang, Ph.D.

Chancellor's Fellow Professor

Co-Director, Surgical Bioengineering Laboratory

Vice Chair for Translational Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Department of Surgery

Reviews

Specialties

Pediatric Surgery

Vascular Surgery

Surgery - Burn

Transplant Surgery

Department

Surgery

Locations and Contact

Research II

Research II
4625 2nd Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817

Get Directions

Additional Numbers

Clinic Phone

916-703-0422

Clinic Fax

916-703-0430

Physician Referrals

800-4-UCDAVIS (800-482-3284)

Research/Academic Interests

Dr. Aijun Wang is a Chancellor's Fellow, Professor of Surgery and of Biomedical Engineering at the UC Davis. He is the Vice Chair for Translational Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Department of Surgery, Co-founder and Co-Director of the Center for Surgical Bioengineering, formerly known as Surgical Bioengineering Laboratory. He is also a Principal Investigator at the Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine (IPRM) / Shriners Hospitals Pediatric Research Center, Northern California. Dr. Wang’s research focuses on developing tools, technologies and products that combine molecular, cellular, tissue and biomaterial engineering to promote regeneration and restore function. Specifically, the Wang Group is focused on engineering and developing stem cell/gene therapy, extracellular vesicles/nanomedicine, and extracellular matrix/biomaterial scaffolds for the treatment of surgical conditions and diseases. His lab also conducts IND (Investigational New Drug) enabling studies required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical applications and clinical trials in both companion animal patients and human patients. Dr. Wang and his team at the Center for Surgical Bioengineering specialize in bringing therapeutics from bench to bedside, through translational and IND-enabling studies, GMP (Good manufacturing practice) manufacturing, and conducting investigator initiated clinical trials in both human and companion animal patients. Serving as the Vice Chair for Translational Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Department of Surgery and the Dean's Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the UC Davis School of Medicine, Dr. Wang is an active translational researcher and a strong advocate in promoting academic innovation and entrepreneurship.

Division

Pediatric Surgery

Center/Program Affiliation

Stem Cell Research Program

Undergraduate School

B.S., Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Shandong Medical University, Jinan, China 2000

Other School

M.S., Biochemistry, Shandong University, Jinan, China 2003

Other School

Ph.D., Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China 2007

Fellowship

Department of Bioengineering, UC Berkeley, Berkeley CA 2008-2010

Fellowship

Berkeley Stem Cell Center, UC Berkeley, Berkeley CA 2010-2011

Cultivating Team Science Award, UC Davis School of Medicine, 2022

Sacramento Region Innovation Award, Sacramento CA, 2021

Phase 2 KidneyX Award: Redesign Dialysis, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 2020

Chancellor's Fellow, UC Davis, 2020

Dean's Team Award for Excellence in Research, UC Davis Health, 2020

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/aijun.wang.1/bibliography/53100355/public/?sort=date&direction=descending

Gao K, Li J, Song H, Han H, Wang Y, Yin B, Farmer DL, Murthy N, Wang A. In utero delivery of mRNA to the heart, diaphragm and muscle with lipid nanoparticles. Bioact Mater. 2023 Feb 17;25:387-398. doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2023.02.011. PMID:36844366.

Hao D, Lu L, Song H, Duan Y, Chen J, Carney R, Li JJ, Zhou P, Nolta J, Lam KS, Leach JK, Farmer DL, Panitch A, Wang A. Engineered extracellular vesicles with high collagen-binding affinity present superior in situ retention and therapeutic efficacy in tissue repair. Theranostics. 2022 Aug 8;12(13):6021-6037. doi:10.7150/thno.70448. PMID:35966577.

Hao D, Liu R, Fernandez TG, Pivetti C, Jackson JE, Kulubya ES, Jiang HJ, Ju HY, Liu WL, Panitch A, Lam KS, Leach JK, Farmer DL, Wang A. A bioactive material with dual integrin-targeting ligands regulates specific endogenous cell adhesion and promotes vascularized bone regeneration in adult and fetal bone defects. Bioact Mater. 2022 May 29;20:179-193. doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.05.027. PMID:35663336.

He S, Walimbe T, Chen H, Gao K, Kumar P, Wei Y, Hao D, Liu R, Farmer DL, Lam KS, Zhou J, Panitch A, Wang A. Bioactive extracellular matrix scaffolds engineered with proangiogenic proteoglycan mimetics and loaded with endothelial progenitor cells promote neovascularization and diabetic wound healing. Bioact Mater. 2021 Sep 11;10:460-473. doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2021.08.017. PMID:34901560.

Amorim RM, Clark KC, Walker NJ, Kumar P, Herout K, Borjesson DL, Wang A. Placenta-derived multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells: a promising potential cell-based therapy for canine inflammatory brain disease. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2020 Jul 22;11(1):304. doi:10.1186/s13287-020-01799-0. PMID:32698861.

Hao D, Fan Y, Xiao W, Liu R, Pivetti C, Walimbe T, Guo F, Zhang X, Farmer DL, Wang F, Panitch A, Lam KS, Wang A. Rapid endothelialization of small diameter vascular grafts by a bioactive integrin-binding ligand specifically targeting endothelial progenitor cells and endothelial cells. Acta Biomater. 2020 May;108:178-193. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2020.03.005. Epub 2020 Mar 7. PMID:32151698.

Kumar P, Becker JC, Gao K, Carney RP, Lankford L, Keller BA, Herout K, Lam KS, Farmer DL, Wang A. Neuroprotective effect of placenta-derived mesenchymal stromal cells: role of exosomes. FASEB J. 2019 May;33(5):5836-5849. doi:10.1096/fj.201800972R. Epub 2019 Feb 12. PMID:30753093.

Gao K, Kumar P, Cortez-Toledo E, Hao D, Reynaga L, Rose M, Wang C, Farmer D, Nolta J, Zhou J, Zhou P, Wang A. Potential long-term treatment of hemophilia A by neonatal co-transplantation of cord blood-derived endothelial colony-forming cells and placental mesenchymal stromal cells. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2019 Jan 22;10(1):34. doi:10.1186/s13287-019-1138-8. PMID:30670078.

Phan J, Kumar P, Hao D, Gao K, Farmer D, Wang A. Engineering mesenchymal stem cells to improve their exosome efficacy and yield for cell-free therapy. J Extracell Vesicles. 2018 Sep 26;7(1):1522236. doi:10.1080/20013078.2018.1522236. PMID:30275938.