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User:Runqizhu/sandbox

Wenxin Wang
Born1 May, 1968
Tianjin, China
NationalityChinese
Alma materTianjin University (BSc, MSc); University of Liège (PhD)
Known forControlled polymerisation, Functional biomaterials, non-viral gene therapy, tissue engineering
AwardsNovaUCD Innovation Award (2025)
Science Foundation Ireland Principal Investigator Award (2011)
TERMIS-EU Young Scientist Prize in Regenerative Medicine (2010)
FRSC Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Scientific career
FieldsMaterials Science, Biomedical Engineering, Dermatology
InstitutionsUniversity College Dublin

Wenxin Wang is a full professor of skin research and wound healing at the Charles Institute of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University College Dublin (UCD). He is a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Principal Investigator and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He won the highly prestigious “Young Scientist Prize in Regenerative Medicine” in 2010 at TERMIS-EU conference, the “SFI Principal Investigator award” in 2011, DEBRA Award for Excellent EB Patient Service in 2014, and the 2025 NovaUCD Innovation Award which highlight his work ethic and achievements. Wang’s research focuses on controlled polymerisation of multivinyl monomers, functional biomaterials, wound healing, non-viral gene therapy and tissue engineering. Beyond academia, Wang is also the founder of 3 companies - Vornia Ltd (www.vornia.com, acquired by Ashland - a Fortune500 US company in Jan. 2018, renamed as Ashland Specialties Ireland), Blafar Ltd. (www.blafar.com), and Branca Bunús Ltd. (www.brancabunus.com).

Education and career

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Wang studied polymer science and engineering at Sichuan University (B.Sc., 1990) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (M.Sc., 1996; Ph.D., 1999). He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Liège, Belgium (2000–2001), and later joined the University of Nottingham, where he worked in green chemistry and drug delivery (2001–2008).

In 2008 Wang moved to Ireland as a fellow at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and in 2009 was appointed SFI Stokes Lecturer in Functional Biomaterials. In 2013 he became associate professor at University College Dublin, where he was promoted to full professor in 2018. He also serves as adjunct professor at UCD’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Senior Conway Fellow at the UCD Conway Institute.

Research

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Wang’s research involves:

  • Controlled/living polymerisation and macromolecular design
  • Functional nanomaterials for drug and gene delivery
  • Non-viral vectors for skin gene therapy
  • Responsive polymer dressings for wound healing
  • Injectable hydrogels for stem cell delivery:contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

The most significant academic contributions are reflected in the following three areas:

Controlled polymerisation of multivinyl monomers (MVMs): The classic Flory-Stockmayer (F-S) theory concluded that the polymerisations of MVMs inevitably lead to gelation even at low monomer conversion (<10%). Therefore, the polymerisation of MVMs has been always considered to be “uncontrollable and impossible”. In 2007, Prof. Wang, for the first time, proposed a deactivation enhanced ATRP (DE-ATRP) to homopolymerize MVMs under high monomer concentrations and efficiently delayed the gelation point up to 60% monomer conversion, especially, this work has yield a new class of single-chain cyclized/knot polymers (Nat. Commun., Nat. Rev. Chem., JACS, Angew. Chem. etc). This breakthrough has quickly attracted widespread attention from international peers and was commented as “incredible work”. These research achievements have also attracted significant interest of the wider public community.

High-performance non-viral gene delivery vectors: Polymer materials constitute a significant category of gene delivery vectors. However, despite decades of study, the clinic applications of polymeric vectors are still immature compared to lipid-based vectors. Prof. Wang invented a radically new method to utilise amines with equal reactivity and MVMs via polycondensation to prepare hyperbranched poly (β-amino ester)s (HPAEs). This innovative and pioneering work led to a generation evolution of polymeric vectors (JACS, Angew. Chem., Sci. Adv., Nat. Commun., etc), which was highlighted in Science in 'This Week In Science', with the comment 'broke the barrier to success', and has widely received increasing recognition by international peers with their follow-up and exploring studies for HPAEs. Prof. Wang has applied this platform technology to treat a rare skin disease-recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). Two of his EB gene therapy technologies have been licensed to Amryt Pharma (a US NASDAQ-listed company) and Branca Bunus (UCD start-up). These two technologies were successfully granted 'Orphan Drug' qualifications by the FDA in 2020 and by EMA in 2021, respectively.

Green technology for high purity biodegradable polymer production: The traditional synthesis of biodegradable polyesters inevitably involve the usage of organic solvents which have negative impact on environment. However, most “green” techniques for biodegradable polyester production are only at R&D stage. Prof. Wang creatively developed a solvent-free, “green” manufacturing method - supercritical CO2 (ScCO2) assisted one-step polymerization/purification technique to produce high-quality medical grade biodegradable polyester, that is completely devoid of residual solvents, offering great potential for biomedical applications. The spin-out company - Vornia Limited founded by Prof Wang has translated this green technology platform into medical material products to market. In 2018, Vornia with this novel technology were acquired by Ashland - one of Fortune500 US companies, now named Ashland Specialties Ireland Ltd. To date, a series of biodegradable polyester products have been launched on market which are all manufactured on this “green” technology platform. Moreover, ASI Ltd. has grown to be one of the major suppliers of these products around the world.

Entrepreneurship

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Wang has founded 3 biotech companies:

  • Vornia Ltd. – a biomaterials spin-out acquired by Ashland (Fortune 500 company) in 2018
  • Blafar Ltd. – specialising in functionalised biopolymers for cosmetics and medical devices
  • Branca Bunús Ltd. – a gene therapy company focused on treating rare skin diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa:contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}

Honours and awards

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  • NovaUCD Innovation Award (2025)
  • DEBRA Award for Excellent EB Patient Service (2014)
  • Science Foundation Ireland Principal Investigator Award (2011)
  • TERMIS-EU Young Scientist Prize in Regenerative Medicine (2010):contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}

References

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