Prof. TUAN, Rocky S.

Personal Information

Vice-Chancellor and President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Lee Quo Wei and Lee Yick Hoi Lun Professor of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Email: rt_vcoffice@cuhk.edu.hk
Address: Room 420A, 4/F, Lo Kwee-Seong Integrated Biomedical Science Building, Area 39, CUHK
ORCID: 0000-0001-6067-6705
CUHK Website: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/governance/officers/rocky-tuan/english/biography.html

Research interests

Dr. Tuan directs a multidisciplinary research program that focuses on orthopaedic research as a study of the biological activities underlying the development, growth, function, and health of skeletal tissues, and the utilization of this knowledge to develop cell-based technologies that will regenerate and/or restore function to diseased and damaged skeletal tissues. Ongoing research projects are directed towards skeletal development, stem cells, growth factor signaling, bone-biomaterial interaction, extracellular matrix and cell-matrix interaction, nanotechnology, mechanobiology, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering, utilizing integrated contemporary technologies of biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, embryology and development, cellular imaging, and engineering.

Selected Publications

1. Rothrauff BB, Shimomura K, Gottardi R, Alexander PG, Tuan RS. Anatomical region-dependent enhancement of 3-dimensional chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells by soluble meniscus extracellular matrix. Acta Biomater. 2017 Feb;49:140-151.

2. Yang G, Rothrauff BB, Lin H, Yu S, Tuan RS. Tendon-derived extracellular matrix enhances transforming growth factor-β3-induced tenogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells. Tissue Eng Part A. 2017 Feb;23(3-4):166-176.

3. Rothrauff BB, Yang G, Tuan RS. Tissue-specific bioactivity of soluble tendon- and cartilage-derived extracellular matrices. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2017 Jun 5;8(1):133.

4. Sun AX, Lin H, Fritch MR, Shen H, Alexander PG, DeHart M, Tuan RS. Chondrogenesis of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in 3-dimensional, photocrosslinked hydrogel constructs: Effect of cell seeding density and material stiffness. Acta Biomater. 2017. Aug; 58:302-311.

5. Rothrauff BB, Lauro BB, Yang G, Debski RE, Musahl V, Tuan RS. Braided and stacked electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds for tendon and ligament tissue engineering. Tissue Engin Part A. 2017. May;23(9-10):378-389.

6. Lin H, Tang Y, Lozito TP, Oyster N, Kang RB, Fritch MR, Wang B, Tuan RS. Projection stereolithographic fabrication of BMP-2 gene-activated matrix for bone tissue engineering. Scient Rep. 2017. 7:11327.

7. Brick RM, Sun AX, Tuan RS. Neurotrophically induced mesenchymal progenitor cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells enhance neuritogenesis via neurotrophin and cytokine production. Stem Cell Transl Med. 2018. Jan. 7(1):45-58.

8. Shen H, Lin H, Sun AX, Song S, Zhang S, Dai J, Tuan RS. Chondroinductive factor-free chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells in graphene oxide-incorporated hydrogels. J Mater Chem B. 2018. 6: 908-917.

9. Yang Y, Lin H, Shen H, Wang B, Lei G, Tuan RS. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular matrix enhances chondrogenic phenotype of and cartilage formation by encapsulated chondrocytes in vitro and in vivo. Acta Biomat. 2018. Mar 15;69:71-82.

10. Deng Y, Sun AX, Overholt KJ, Yu GZ, Fritch MR, Alexander PG, Shen H, Tuan RS, Lin H. Enhancing chondrogenesis and mechanical strength retention in physiologically relevant hydrogels with incorporation of hyaluronic acid and direct loading of TGF-β. Acta Biomater. 2019 Jan 1;83:167-176.

11. Lin H, Sohn J, Shen H, Langhans MT, Tuan RS. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells: Aging and tissue engineering applications to enhance bone healing. Biomaterials. 2019 May;203:96-110.

12. Sun AX, Prest TA, Fowler JR, Brick RM, Gloss KM, Li X, DeHart M, Shen H, Yang G, Brown BN, Alexander PG, Tuan RS. Conduits harnessing spatially controlled cell-secreted neurotrophic factors improve peripheral nerve regeneration. Biomaterials. 2019 May;203:86-95.

13. Jiang Y, Tuan RS. Role of NGF-TrkA signaling in calcification of articular chondrocytes. FASEB J. 2019 Sep;33(9):10231-10239.

14. Lin H, Tang Y, Lozito TP, Oyster N, Wang B, Tuan RS. Efficient in vivo bone formation by BMP2 engineered human mesenchymal stem cells encapsulated in a projection stereolithographically fabricated hydrogel scaffold. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2019. 10 (1):1-13.

15. Lin Z, Li Z, Li E, LI X, Duke C, Shen H, Hao T, Lei G, Bunnell BA, Goodman SB, Alexander PG, Tuan RS, Lin H. Osteochondral tissue chip derived from iPSCs: Modeling osteoarthritic pathologies and testing drugs. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2019 Dec 17;7:411. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2019.00411. eCollection 2019.

16. Lin H, Sohn J, Shen H, Langhans MT, Tuan RS. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells: Aging and tissue engineering applications to enhance bone healing. Biomaterials. 2019 May;203:96-110.

17. Rothrauff BB, Pirosa A, Lin H, Sohn J, Langhans MT, Tuan RS. Stem cell therapy for musculoskeletal diseases. In: Atala A, Lanza R, Mikos AG, Nerem R, eds. Principles of Regenerative Medicine, Elsevier. 2019. Chapter 54. pp. 953-970.

18. Shen H, Lin H, Sun AX, Song S, Wong B, Yang Y, Dai, J, Tuan RS. Acceleration of chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells by sustained growth factor release in 3D graphene oxide incorporated hydrogels. Acta Biomateralia. In press.