BE Chair and Alumni Named Weintraub Director and Co-Director

Bioengineering Professor Ben Wu has been appointed to be the Director of the UCLA Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology in the School of Dentistry, effective July 1, 2012.  UCLA Biomedical Engineering alum Professor Dean Ho has been announced as co-director.

The Weintraub Center was founded in 1998, with the mission of “improving the quality of life” for patients who have suffered from “loss of oral or facial structures due to cancer, trauma or birth defects.” The Center is renowned for pioneering a unique bench-to-chairside approach to oral-and-facial-defect-patient care, directing cutting-edge biomedical and bioengineering research discoveries toward real-world applications. The Center’s investigators, patient-care providers, and psychologists work in collaborative atmosphere to improve the quality of patients care. Current research at the Center includes stem cell, cancer, bone regeneration, and nanomedicine.

Prof. Wu is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Bioengineering, and a practicing prosthodontist who specializes in complex oral rehabilitation at the UCLA Faculty Group Dental Practice. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Prosthodontics, the most elite academy of his profession.  Prof. Wu is also internationally recognized for his cutting-edge research in the formation of biomimetic apatites, development of bioinspired growth factors, and engineering of materials and microenvironment to deliver cells, proteins, and genes to promote repair and regeneration of hard and soft tissues.  Prof. Wu brings a stellar track record in research, teaching, patient care, and leadership to this appointment. 

Prof. Dean Ho was recently recruited from Northwestern University, where he was Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, and Director of the Laboratory for Nanoscale Biotic-Abiotic Systems Engineering.  His research focuses on the formation and application of nanoparticulate diamonds for drug delivery and biomedical imaging.  A proud alumnus of UCLA Biomedical Engineering, Prof. Ho has won numerous awards and recognitions including the prestigious NSF CAREER Award, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Early Career Award, and the Distinguished Young Alumnus of the Year for the UCLA School of Engineering in 2008.