Joyce Y. Wong, PhD

Biography

Dr. Wong’s main research interest is in the development of new biomaterials that interact with living cells in novel ways. She is interested in questions relating to biocompatibility and control of cellular behavior at the cell-material interface for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. Her approach includes direct measurement of physicochemical interactions between biological molecules and model biomembrane systems. Dr. Wong’s research uses a combination of approaches from materials science and engineering, polymer science and polymer physics, colloid and surface science, cell culture, and biophysics.
Some of her projects include bioengineered patches for congenital heart defects in pediatric patients and design of theranostic agents to detect and treat cardiovascular disease.

Awards she has received include a NSF CAREER Award, Clare Boothe Luce Professorship, and Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award. She was Chair of the 2011 Gordon Research Conference in Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering. Dr. Wong is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and a AAAS Fellow. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society, as Volume Organizer of the Materials Research Society Bulletin, and currently serves as co-chair of AIMBE Women and as a member on the Council of TERMIS-AM (Tissue Engineering Regenerative Medicine International Society – Americas). To date, she has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications; her trainees include 19 PhDs and 13 postdoctoral fellows who have positions ranging from academia to industry to policy. She is currently on the advisory board and editorial board of numerous journals and in 2017 became Associate Editor of Biomedical Materials. In 2017 she was awarded the highest honor in the College of Engineering at Boston University, the Charles DeLisi Distinguished Lecturer.