Jianping Fu, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, of Biomedical Engineering, and of Cell and Developmental Biology, was selected to receive the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany).
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany) presents 10 – 20 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards annually to internationally renowned academics from across the world in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in research. The award is named for German astronomer and mathematician Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784–1846) and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Dr. Fu’s research focuses on mechanobiology, stem cell bioengineering, developmental bioengineering, microfluidics and BioMEMS. With this award, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is recognizing the Fu Research Group’s achievements in integrating emerging mechanobiology research with human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs; including human embryonic stem cells) to study the fundamental roles of cell mechanics and mechanobiology in early human embryonic development. Specifically, the Fu Research Group has recently developed biomimetic culture systems for hPSCs to model human embryonic developmental events, which have opened a door for future integration of biomaterials sciences, stem cell bioengineering, and mechanobiology.
“I feel very honored to receive this award. I want to thank the current and past members of my group as well as many wonderful collaborators for their dedications, efforts and innovations. The Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award will allow me to pursue collaborations with colleagues in Germany to develop novel functional biomaterial systems and investigate the role of cell mechanics and mechanobiology in regulating tissue morphogenesis and cell fate decisions during self-organized development of early human embryonic tissues from cultured hPSCs. This is an important fundamental human developmental biology research that will require transdisciplinary effort integrating knowledge and experimentation from distinct research fields including biomaterials and bioengineering, developmental biology, and mechanobiology,” said Dr. Fu.
Award winners and their families are invited to attend the annual meeting of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, during which the President of Germany will host a reception for all awardees. Award winners are also invited to conduct a research project of their choice at a research institution in Germany in cooperation with specialist colleagues there.
Congratulations, Dr. Fu.
