NOTE: This profile is part of a series to highlight the 16 researchers who will be honored April 30 at a ceremony for UNMC’s 2012 Scientist Laureate, Distinguished Scientist and New Investigator Award recipients.
- Name: Dong Wang, Ph.D.
- Title: Associate professor, College of Pharmacy
- Joined UNMC: 2005
- Hometown: Beijing, China
Describe your research briefly in layman’s terms.
In the biomedical field, many people are busy understanding diseases and trying to identify drugs to treat them. Complementary to these critical efforts, my research focuses on using all available pharmaceutical tools (e.g. nanomedicine, etc.) to manage the amount and the distribution of drug in the body. To be precise, what I do is try to deliver the drug to the desired sites of action and avoid its exposure to the rest of the body. Among all the human diseases, my main interest is in the area of musculoskeletal diseases.
How does your research contribute to science and/or health care?
If the results from my work can be successfully translated clinically, I anticipate significant improvement to the current patient care with better therapeutic efficacy and reduced side effects. My colleagues and I work on conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, fracture non-union, orthopedic implant loosening and dental caries.
What is the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you, professional or personal?
At high school graduation, a good friend of mine gave me the following advice: “You need to learn to say no.” While she might have been referring to a weakness in my personality at the time, I now use it more often in my research. The field of pharmaceutical sciences is a fascinating place with new ideas popping up everyday. I need to learn to say no to a lot of them to keep my work focused.
List three things few people know about you.
- My wife and I are the proud parents of four energetic boys;
- I cook well but VERY slow;
- I have practiced Taiji for 21 years.