Jian Yang with a biomaterial sample in his lab. Photo was taken in January 2020. IMAGE: TYLER HENDERSON, PENN STATE
Engineering professor named fellow of Biomedical Engineering Society
9/8/2020
By Jamie Oberdick
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jian Yang, professor of biomedical engineering and Lloyd & Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair in Regenerative Engineering at Penn State, was named a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES).
BMES fellows are chosen for a demonstrable record of exceptional achievement in a specific field of interest within biomedical engineering. The accomplishments can be in research, education, industry, public service, new technology or clinical practice.
“I am very grateful and very humbled to be elected as a BMES fellow,” Yang said. “It is such a great honor to me to have my research, teaching and professional services recognized by my peer colleagues in the Biomedical Engineering Society. I am indebted to all the colleagues and students whom I have worked with.”
Yang’s research interests involve developing a methodology for functional biomaterial development and to use biomaterials as a tool to solve unmet clinical problems. His lab’s research projects include methodology for new biomaterial development, soft and hard tissue engineering, cancer drug delivery and imaging, stem cell/biomaterial interactions, micro- and nano-medical device fabrication and biosensing.
“In particular we are developing tools and technologies to improve disease diagnosis and treatment, helping the millions of patients who suffer from tissue loss and organ failure,” Yang said. “Some examples of my research include optical biosensors for cystic fibrosis diagnosis, biodegradable nerve guides for nerve regeneration, biodegradable fixation devices and scaffolds for bone repair and regeneration, and drug delivery devices for cancer diagnosis and treatment. My students and I have made some very exciting progress, and we expect some of the technologies we developed will soon generate considerable clinical impact.”
Yang has published 124 peer-reviewed journal articles, nine book chapters and has been issued 22 United States patents. He received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2010, an Outstanding Young Engineering Faculty Award at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2011 and a Penn State Engineering Alumni Society Outstanding Research Award in 2018.
Yang is an elected fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors. He is a co-editor-in-chief for the journal Bioactive Materials and an associate editor for the journal Frontiers in Biotechnology and Bioengineering. He has also served as a standing member for the National Institutes of Health Biomaterials and Biointerfaces study section.
Yang is a co-founder of a medical device company, Aleo BME Inc., which has marketed its ElaSkin liquid bandage since early 2020. His biomaterials technologies have also been licensed to several other companies in the medical device industry.
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