Jianjun Guan, Ph.D.

Guan creates custom nanoparticles to fight inflammation, fibrosis

Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and about 300,000 of those do not have surgery afterward to restore blood flow. These patients rely on drugs to reduce inflammation and inhibit scar tissue development, or fibrosis, but delivering these drugs to the heart has been challenging.

Jianjun Guan, a materials scientist in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has an idea that might eliminate, or at least improve, both of those issues. With a four-year $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Guan and his team plan to enclose a set of proteins designed to curb inflammation and a peptide to prevent fibrosis inside cleverly disguised drug-delivering smart nanoparticles. These nanoparticles would be delivered intravenously into the blood, which would take them directly to the heart… Continue reading.

About one-fourth of people with diabetes develop painful foot ulcers, which are slow to heal due to low oxygen in the wound from impaired blood vessels and increased inflammation. These wounds can become chronic, leading to poor quality of life and potential amputation.

Jianjun Guan, a professor of mechanical engineering & materials science in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed a hydrogel that delivers oxygen to a wound, which decreases inflammation, helps remodel tissue and accelerates healing. Results of the work, which were in a mouse model, are published Aug. 28 in Science Advances. Ya Guan, a doctoral student, and Hong Niu, a postdoctoral research associate, both in Guan’s lab, are co-first authors… Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Jianjun Guan, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Washington University in St. Louis, to its College of Fellows.

Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer. The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”

Dr. Guan was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for “leading contributions in developing elastomers, smart hydrogels, and cell and drug delivery systems for cardiovascular and musculoskeletal tissue regeneration.“