“Dr. Hu is a young and talent biomedical engineer. She has not only been very productive in her own research but also excellent in collaborating and leading the team.  It has been a great honor and fortunate for me to have her in the group.  I see a bright future and successful career for her in Regenerative Medicine after the postdoc training at Iowa.” – Dr. Hongli Sun, Associate Professor in College of Dentistry

• Hometown: Hengyang City, China
• Faculty mentor/advisor: Dr. Hongli Sun
• What is your degree program and expected graduate date? I am currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. I got my PhD degree in Biomedical Textile from Donghua University at Shanghai in 2017.
• Please describe your research: My research focuses on developing innovative biomaterials and drug delivery techniques for bone tissue engineering. Specifically, I am interested in developing biomimetic 3D scaffold with strong osteopromotive ability and sustained drug release capacity to promote endogenous craniofacial bone regeneration.
• In simple terms, why does this research matter? My work has been focused on finding an alternative strategy to address the challenges of current autologous bone grafts in clinics. Encouragingly, it has shown great potential to repair of large bone defects or other challenged bone repair, for example, aged bone regeneration by using our biodegradable and biomimetic nanostructured materials combined with controlled drug release techniques.
• How soon after starting at the University of Iowa were you able to participate in research? I was able to participate in research immediately after I joined this lab in 2018.
• How has being involved in research made you more successful at the University of Iowa? The multidiscipline research and collaborative environment at UI have enabled me to learn all kinds of skills and knowledge from our faculties, colleagues, and dental students. Especially, the collaboration with both basic science and clinical researchers makes my research more clinically relevant and valuable. Therefore, this is a great training opportunity and experience to improve myself in many ways for my career development.
• What are your career goals and/or plans after graduation? I hope to stay in academia and continue the exciting research in regenerative medicine.

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