Rocky S. Tuan, Ph.D., Appointed Director of New Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Pitt School of Medicine
PITTSBURGH, April 21, 2009 — The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has established a new Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and appointed as its founding director, Rocky S. Tuan, Ph.D., a world-renowned expert in stem cell biology and tissue engineering.
For more than 30 years, Dr. Tuan has studied the workings of the musculoskeletal system and its diseases, including cartilage development and repair, cell signaling and matrix biochemistry, stem cell biology, nanotechnology and many other orthopaedically relevant topics.
“Dr. Tuan will be an absolutely outstanding addition to our department’s research base,” said Freddie H. Fu, M.D., D.Sci. [Hon], D.Ps. [Hon], the David Silver Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and department chair. “He has been exploring ways to repair damaged muscle and cartilage using regenerative medicine approaches that will greatly complement the technologies we, too, have been developing.”
The purpose of the new Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering is to develop the knowledge base and the technical know-how toward the restoration of organ functions by applying principles of cellular and molecular biology as well as the physical sciences and engineering, Dr. Fu said. Novel approaches, such as stem cells, biomaterials, nanotechnology and bioreactors will be utilized to advance skeletal tissue engineering and regeneration.
“Research has the greatest impact when it is based on real-world needs, developed by means of integrated scientific principles, and delivered using translational approaches,” said Dr. Tuan, who also will serve as the executive vice chairman for orthopaedic research. “My goal is to establish a national and international center of excellence built on research innovation, a strong education program, and an entrepreneurial culture that fosters local and regional collaborations among the academic, industrial and business communities.”
Since 2001, Dr. Tuan has been chief of the Cartilage Biology and Orthopaedics Branch at the National Institute of Arthritis, and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. He received his undergraduate education at Swarthmore College and Berea College, and his doctorate in 1977 from Rockefeller University, NY. Prior to his appointment at NIH, he held professorships in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and at Thomas Jefferson University, where he also was vice chairman and director of research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He currently has adjunct appointments at George Washington University School of Medicine and Georgetown University School of Medicine.
Dr. Tuan’s wife, Cecilia Lo, Ph.D., has been appointed founding chair of a new department of Developmental Biology at the School of Medicine. They will take up their positions in the summer.
Both Drs. Tuan and Lo have served on many professional committees and boards, published significant research papers in top-tier scientific journals and delivered invited talks at highly regarded academic centers in their respective fields.
They have been married for 33 years and have one child.
As one of the nation’s leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1997 and currently ranks fifth in the nation, according to preliminary data for fiscal year 2008. Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region’s economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see www.medschool.pitt.edu.