Dr. Jian Yang is currently a Chair Professor in Biomaterials and Regenerative Engineering, the chair of Biomedical Engineering Program, and an Associate Vice President at the Westlake University. Prior to Westlake, he was a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Regenerative Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Yang is known for his pioneering contribution on citrate chemistry and biology for the development and applications of citrate-based biomaterials. He was a recipient of NSF CAREER Award (2010), Outstanding Young Engineering Faculty Award at UTA (2011), PSEAS Outstanding Research Award at Penn State (2018), and BMES Wallace H. Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation Award (2023). Dr. Yang is an elected Fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE, 2016), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI, 2018), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES, 2020), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, 2021), and the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE, 2023).  Dr. Yang is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of “Bioactive Materials”, and an Associate Editor of “Science Advances”. Dr. Yang is a co-founder and the Past-President of Chinese Association for Biomaterials (CAB) and the recipient of 2023 CAB Distinguished Leadership and Service Award.

Topic title: Metabotissugenic Citrate Biomaterials for Regenerative Engineering

Abstract:

Tissue regeneration represents a substantial component of clinical practice. Although significant progress has been made in the development of degradable biomaterials, existing materials are limited by poor mimicking of the tissue compositions, often lacking the biochemical, biomechanical, and biological coordination necessary to mediate complex tissue healing. Developing regenerative materials that can promote wound healing and tissue regeneration remains a challenge. Leveraging the multifunctional nature of citrates in chemistry and inspired by its important biological roles in human, we have created a citrate-based biomaterials and small molecules platform that hold great promising for various regenerative engineering applications. The unprecedented knowledge on the previously under-explored citrate biology have enabled us to design the next generation of biomimetic dynamic biomaterials that present citrate signals in demand during cellular and tissue development, which we now term it as “metabotissugenic biomaterials”. Metabotissugenic citrate bioamterials have been successfully developed into FDA-approved implantable orthopedic devices and in vitro drug screening devices. The technology development and translation of citrate-based biomaterials are just at the beginning. The clinical successes of citrate materials-based medical devices will spur the rapid biomaterials and technology development to address the unmet challenges in complex tissue repair and regeneration.