Stem cell researcher awarded prestigious Victoria Fellowship
In Summary
- Dr Peng-Yuan (George) Wang awarded 2016 Victoria Fellowship
- He will receive $18,000 to assist with an international study mission
- Dr Wang will visit world-leading labs in stem cell research and bioengineering
Dr Peng-Yuan (George) Wang is one of twelve early career researchers awarded a Victoria Fellowship valued at $18,000 to assist with an international study mission.
Dr Wang, an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award fellow at Swinburne, has received several major awards since 2014, including the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award, the Australia-China Young Scientists Exchange Program, and the Swinburne Visiting Fellowship Scheme.
He has been studying stem cells, nanofabrication, and advanced materials for more than a decade, researching how surface properties influence stem cell behaviour.
“Combining stem cells with biomaterial scaffolds, which control stem cell behaviour, is a promising approach to engineering tissues and stem cells for clinical use, to model diseases and screen drugs,” Dr Wang says.
Dr Wang’s research focusses on how fabricated nanostructures called binary colloidal crystals regulate stem cell function and reprogramming.
In early 2017, Dr Wang will visit two world-leading labs in stem cell research and bioengineering in the USA and Canada.
His study mission to UCLA, the University of Nebraska and the University of Toronto will enable him to collaborate with leading bioengineers, share knowledge and learn new techniques to advance the field.
“I hope to gain new insights about stem cell development, use new nanostructured materials to improve stem cell differentiation in specific cells, and understand the role they play in this process,” Dr Wang says.
He will also attend the Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting and Exposition, in the US; and Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Conference.
Victoria Fellowships
The Victorian Government provides 12 Victoria Fellowships annually valued at up to $18,000 each for short-term study missions. The fellowships are administered by veski on behalf of the Victorian Government. There are six fellowships for Life Sciences and six fellowships for Physical Sciences.