About
Leo received both B.S. and M. Eng. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University, where he became a post-doc on stem cells and tissue engineering. He joined the Biomedical Engineering Department at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as an assistant professor in 2011.
Leo's research is focused on developing novel strategies for tissue regeneration/repair, and establishing innovative organ-on-a-chip devices for disease diagnosis and drug screening. His lab unitizes interdisciplinary approaches including micro-/nanofabrication, stem cells, tissue engineering, biomaterial, cell/tissue biomechanics, and bioimaging.
Leo is a Pew scholar (Class 2013), and recipient of the NIH Director's New Innovator Award, the National Science Foundation Early Career Award, the American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant, and the March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award.
Leo is a fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA).
Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University 2007
M.Eng. in Fluid Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) 2001
B.S. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) 1998
Research
The mission of our laboratory is to develop novel strategies for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine and to establish innovative organ-on-a-chip devices for disease diagnosis and drug screening. We utilize interdisciplinary approaches, including micro-/nanofabrication, pluripotent stem cells, tissue engineering, biomaterial, cell biomechanics, and bioimaging.
- organ-on-a-chip
- BioMEMS
- tissue engineering
- cell chirality
- cell biomechanics
- tissue biomechanics
Recognition
2021 Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA)
2021 Chair of Cellular & Molecular Bioengineering Council (BMES SIG)
2015 School of Engineering Research Award at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
2014 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award
2014 Kavli fellow, the twenty-sixth annual U.S. Kavli Frontiers of Science symposium by NAS
2014 Basil O’Conner Starter Scholar Research Award, March of Dimes
2013 Pew Scholars in Biomedical Sciences, 2013
2013 American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant (AHA-SDG), 2013
2013 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
2013 New Investigator Award, Frontiers in Bioengineering Workshop, Atlanta, GA, 2013
2013 Rising Star Award, the 2013 Annual Biomedical Engineering Society - Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Conference
Publications
The following is a selection of recent publications in Scopus. Leo Wan has 66 indexed publications in the subjects of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Medicine, Engineering.