By Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

The Institute for Regenerative Engineering welcomes Assistant Professor Thanh Nguyen. Dr. Nguyen joined the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at UConn at the beginning of 2016. His research is highly interdisciplinary and at the interface of biomedicine, materials and nano/micro technology. He did his postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Robert Langer at MIT. His postdoctoral research involved developing a platform technology which can create 3-dimensional microstructures of biomaterials, such as biodegradable and FDA-approved polymers for applications in vaccine/drug delivery and medical implants. In 2013, Dr. Nguyen obtained his PhD from Princeton University in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. There he worked with Dr. Michael McAlpine to develop the field of Biointerfaced Nanopiezoelectrics, which aims to create advanced electromechanical materials/devices at nanoscales that can interface with biological cells/tissues for applications in harvesting, sensing and engineering cellular mechanics. His work has been published in prestigious journals and highlighted in major media such as The New York Times and Nature.

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