William Wang
PhD Candidate
Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan
wangwy (at) umich (dot) edu
Hometown: Lakeville, Minnesota
Education: BS in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 2015
Research interests: Before graduate school, I helped guide terminal glioblastoma patients through clinical trials, an experience that unveiled numerous limitations of current medicine. In order to best find therapies for currently untreatable diseases, I feel that we need to continue building our knowledge of the fundamental basis of disease pathogenesis. I am most interested in designing improved 3D in vitro models that recapitulate the microenvironment cells interact with in the body. Through my PhD work, I aim to develop synthetic biomaterials that better model the extracellular matrix of native tissues so we can understand how matrix mechanics impacts various disease pathways, for example in cancer metastasis.
Outside of lab interests: Outside of work, I enjoy binge watching Netflix, football and exercising at the gym – only to balance my consumption of fried chicken and late night Chinese takeout.
Awards and honors:
2020, CMBE Annual Meeting – Graduate Student Rising Star travel award
2018, World Congress of Biomechanics – 1st place ASME-BED PhD Student Paper Competition
2018, Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting – Outstanding Abstract Honorable Mention
2017, Biomaterials Day (Cell Technologies) – 1st place podium
2017, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
2016, Rackham Merit Fellowship
Publications:
Davidson CD, Jayco DKP, Wang WY, Shikanov A, Baker BM. "Fiber crimp confers matrix mechanical nonlinearity, regulates endothelial cell mechanosensing, and promotes microvascular network formation," Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 2020, doi:10.1115.1.4048191.
Li X, Zhang W, Wang WY, Wu X, Li Y, Tan X, Matera DL, Baker BM, Paulus YM, Fan X, Wang X, "Optical coherence tomography and fluorescence microscopy dual-modality imaging for in vivo single-cell tracking with nanowire lasers," Biomedical Optics Express, 2020, doi:10.1364/BOE.395369.
Aliabouzar M, Davidson CD, Wang WY, Kripfgans OD, Franceschi RT, Putnam AJ, Fowlkes JB, Baker BM, Fabiilli ML, "Spatiotemporal control of micromechanics and microstructre in acoustically-responsive scaffolds using acoustic droplet vaporization," Soft Matter, 2020, doi:10.1039/D0SM00753F.
Wang WY, Lin D, Jarman EH, Polacheck WJ, Baker BM, "Functional angiogenesis requires microenvironmental cues balancing endothelial cell migration and proliferation," Lab on a Chip, 2020, doi:10.1039/C9LC01170F.
Davidson CD, Jayco DKP, Matera DL, DePalma SJ, Hiraki HL, Wang WY, Baker BM. "Myofibroblast activation in synthetic fibrous matrices composed of dextran vinyl sulfone," Acta Biomaterialia, 2020, doi:10.1013/j.actbio.2020.01.009.
Matera DL, Wang WY, Smith MR, Shikanov A, Baker BM. “Fiber density modulates cell spreading in 3D interstitial matrix mimetics,” ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 2019, doi:10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b00141
Wang WY, Davidson CD, Lin D, Baker BM. “Actomyosin contractility-dependent matrix stretch and recoil induces rapid cell migration,” Nature Communications, 2019, doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09121-0.
Davidson CD, Wang WY, Zaimi I, Jayco DKP, Baker BM. “Cell force-mediated matrix reorganization underlies multicellular network assembly,” Scientific Reports, 2019, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-37044-1.
Wang WY, Pearson AT, Kutys ML, Choi CK, Wozniak MA, Baker BM, Chen, CS. “Extracellular matrix alignment dictates the organization of focal adhesions and directs uniaxial cell migration,” APL Bioengineering, 2018, doi:10.1063/1.5052239.
Baker BM*, Trappmann B*, Wang WY, Sakar MS, Kim IL, Shenoy VB, Burdick JA, Chen CS. “Cell-mediated fibre recruitment drives extracellular matrix mechanosensing in engineered fibrillar microenvironments,” Nature Materials, 2015, doi:10.1038/nmat4444. * authors contributed equally
Abstracts:
Wang WY, Lin D, Jarman EH, Polacheck WJ, Baker BM. "Functional angiogenesis requires microenvironmental cues balancing endothelial cell migration and proliferation," CMBE Annual Meeting, January 2-6, 2020, Grand Rio Mar, Puerto Rico, podium.
Wang WY, Lin D, Jarman EH, Polacheck WJ, Baker BM. "Functional angiogenesis requires microenvironmental balancing of endothelial cell migration and proliferation," BMES Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, October 16-19, 2019, podium.
Wang WY, Davidson CD, Lin D, Baker BM. “Actomyosin contractility-dependent matrix stretch and recoil induces rapid cell migration,” 8th World Congress in Biomechanics, Dublin, Ireland, July 8-12, 2018, podium.
Wang WY, Davidson CD, Baker BM. “Matrix elasticity defines cell migration modes in aligned fibrous microenvironments,” Society For Biomaterials Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, April 11-14, 2018, podium.
Wang WY and Baker BM. “The influence of matrix stiffness on directed cell migration in aligned fibrillar microenvironments,” Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference, Tucson, AZ, June 21-24, 2017, podium.