ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PHARMACOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING 

B.Sc., University of Sydney, Australia
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Postdoc, Harvard University, Wyss Institute

Research Interests

PRECISION REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

We are pursuing multidisciplinary approaches to understand fundamentals in physical biology of regenerative processes and to leverage these insights by precisely directing donor cells and modulating the host response to treat tissue injury, degeneration, and fibrosis. Target organs include the bone marrow, bones, and lungs.

Biomaterial design for single cell mechanobiology and encapsulation therapy
We are combining biomaterial design with microtechnologies to precisely control matrix properties at the single cell level, and to advance the field of single cell mechanobiology and encapsulation therapy.

Physical regulation of stromal cells in immunity and immunotherapy
We are leveraging designer hydrogels to understand how matrix biophysical cues impact the ability of stromal cells to regulate immune cells and using these insights to improve immunomodulatory therapies.

Extracellular vesicles in matrices
We are studying how extracellular vesicles are produced from cells in matrices and transport through matrices. We are using these insights to improve extracellular vesicle-based therapeutics.

Selected Publications

Wong SW, Tamatam CR, Cho IS, Toth PT, Bargi R, Belvitch P, Lee JC, Rehman J, Reddy SR, Shin JW*. Inhibition of aberrant tissue remodeling by mesenchymal stromal cells singly coated with soft gels presenting defined chemomechanical cues. Nat Biomed Eng. 2021. Online ahead of print. PMCID in process.  (*Corresponding author). UIC Today.

Wong SW, Lenzini S, Bargi R, Feng Z, Macaraniag C., Lee JC, Peng Z, Shin JW*. Controlled deposition of three-dimensional matrices to direct single cell functions. Adv Science. 7: 2001066, 2020. PMCID: PMC7578851. (*Corresponding author). UIC Today.

Devine D, Vijayakumar V, Wong SW, Lenzini S, Newman P, Shin JW*. Hydrogel micropost arrays with single post tunability to study cell volume and mechanotransduction. Adv Biosyst. 4: e2000012, 2020. PMCID: PMC7704779. (*Corresponding author)

Wong SW, Lenzini S, Cooper MH, Mooney DJ, Shin JW*. Soft extracellular matrix enhances inflammatory activation of mesenchymal stromal cells to induce monocyte production and trafficking. Sci Adv. 6: eaaw0158, 2020. PMCID: PMC7141831. (*Corresponding author).

Lenzini S, Bargi R, Chung G, Shin JW*. Matrix mechanics and water permeation regulate extracellular vesicle transport. Nat Nanotechnol. 15: 217-223, 2020. PMCID: PMC7075670. (*Corresponding author). UIC Today. News & Views.

Complete List of Publications