Joyce Y. Wong, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Biomimetic Materials Engineering Laboratory
Cellular and Subcellular Mechanics Laboratory
Center for Nanoscience and Nanobiotechnology
Ph.D.,Materials Science and Engineering, Program in Polymer Science and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S.B., Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Phone: (617) 353-2374; Fax: (617) 353-6766
Email: jywong@bu.edu
Office: ERB 520A
Office hours: By appointment

Research Interests

Biomaterials, tailoring cell-material interfaces for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications; direct, quantitative measurement of biological interactions.

Current Research

The Biomimetic Materials Engineering Laboratory is focused on the development of biomaterials to probe how structure, material properties and composition of the cell-biomaterial interface affect fundamental cellular processes. Specifically, we are interested in developing substrata with features that mimic physiological and pathophysiological environments to study fundamental cellular processes at the biointerface. Current research projects include tissue engineering of small diameter blood vessels for bypass and intravascular pharmacology (e.g. stents); development of targeted nano- and micro-particle contrast agents for multi-modal (magnetic resonance, ultrasound, and optical) detection of atherosclerotic and vulnerable plaque; and engineering biomimetic systems to study restenosis and breast cancer.

Selected Recent Publications

Duncanson, W.J, K. Oum, J.R. Eisenbrey, R.O. Cleveland, M. A. Wheatley, J.Y. Wong “Targeted binding of PEG-lipid    modified polymer ultrasound contrast agents with tiered surface architecture” Biotechnology and Bioengineering. (accepted)

Isenberg, B.C.*, P.A. DiMilla*, M. Walker, S. Kim, and J. Y. Wong (*co-first authors) “Vascular smooth muscle cell durotaxis depends on substrate stiffness gradient strength” Biophys. J. 97: 1313.  (2009)

Amstad, E., S. Zurcher, A. Mashaghi, J.Y. Wong, M. Textor, and E. Reimhult “Surface Functionalization of Single Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Targeted Magnetic Resonance Imaging” Small. 5 (11): 1334-1342. (2009)

Williams, C., Y. Tsuda, B.C. Isenberg, M. Yamato, T. Shimizu, T. Okano, and J.Y. Wong “Aligned cell sheets grown on thermo-responsive substrates with micro-contact printed protein patterns” Advanced Materials. 21 (21): 2161-2164. (2009)

Williams, C.*, J. Liao*, E.M. Joyce, J.B. Leach, M.S. Sacks, and J.Y. Wong (*co-first authors) “Changes in structural and mechanical properties in decellularized arteries: Implications for vascular tissue engineering” Acta Biomaterialia. 5 (4): 993-1005.  (2008)

Jacot, J.G. and J.Y. Wong “Endothelial injury induces vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation in highly localized regions of a direct contact co-culture system” Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics. 52 (1): 37-46. (2008)

Isenberg, B.C., Tsuda, Y., Williams, C., Shimizu, T., Yamato, M., Okano, T. and Wong, J.Y. “A Thermoresponsive, Microtextured Substrate for Cell Sheet Engineering with Defined Structural Organization” Biomaterials. 29 (17): 2565-72. (2008)

Duncanson, W.J., Figa, M.A., Hallock, K., Zalipsky, S., Hamilton, J.A. and Wong, J.Y. “Targeted Binding of PLA Microparticles with Lipid-PEG-tethered Ligands” Biomaterials. 28: 4991-4999. (2007)

Koester, S., Leach, J.B., Pfohl, T., and Wong, J.Y. “Visualization of Flow-Aligned Type I Collagen Self-Assembly in Tunable pH-Gradients” Langmuir. 23: 357-359. (2007)

Gaudet, C., Marganski, W.A., Kim, S., Brown, C.T., Gunderia, V., Dembo, M. and Wong, J.Y. “Influence of Substratum Type I Collagen Concentration on Fibroblast Spreading, Motility and Contractility” Biophys. J. 85 (5): 3329-3335. (2003)