RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Tang's research interest is to understand the mechanisms of foreign body reactions. Using various in vivo imaging techniques, his group is actively working on the development of various imaging probes to monitor different processes and stages of foreign body reactions. His expertise covers a broad area of biocompatibility, biomaterials, inflammation, infection, stem cells and wound healing. His research interest is on the development of bioactive materials and drug delivery nanomaterials which enhance tissue regeneration associated with a variety of diseases. His expertise covers a broad area of tissue engineering, drug delivery, and stem cell therapies. His research is currently supported by NIH and several medical device companies. He is the recipient of the Young Investigator Award from the Society for Biomaterials on 2001 and Established Investigator Award from the National American Heart Association on 2003. He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association. He also serves as a member on several NIH study sections, including Nanotechnology study section, Biomaterial, and Biointerface study section, and Small Business Innovative Research study section.
RESEARCH KEYWORDS
Biocompatibility, medical device, tissue regeneration, foreign body reaction, cancer therapy, stem cell therapy
In addition to invited lectures, my current teaching activities at University of Texas at Arlington have been emphasized on didetic, laboratory, and research training courses. For the didetic course – Tissue Engineering, my lectures are designed to provide basic knowledge and intellectual training in tissue engineering research and development with an emphasis on strengthening students’abilities on problem finding and solving. To develop such critical thinking skills and techniques, my lectures were focused on providing the links between the basic knowledge, state-of-art technology, and real-life problems in tissue engineering development. The goal of this course is to provide students with real-world experience in the development and improvement of tissue engineering products and research in both academic and industrial settings.