NJHF Awards Grant To Stevens Associate Professor

On Apr 30, 2015

Hongjun Wang, PhD, associate professor of chemistry, chemical biology & biomedical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, has received a $50,000 Innovation Grant from New Jersey Health Foundation to advance research that may improve the quality and efficacy of dental implants, announced James M. Golubieski, president of NJHF.

Dr. Wang is developing a cost-effective approach to stimulate the growth of gum tissue onto implant surfaces, resulting in better adherence, increased efficacy and fewer infections for  patients needing implants.

“We really appreciate this timely funding opportunity, which will not only allow us to continue our ongoing efforts in perfecting the design, but also enable us to collect the preclinical evidence essential for the future clinical trial,” said Dr. Wang. “Clearly, this award provides an essential avenue to bridge the need of translating the bench-top research to clinical application.”

The grant from New Jersey Health Foundation will fund clinical studies that focus on evaluating the effects of a nanofiber coating on soft tissue regeneration that enhances tissue growth around implants.

“We are very excited about helping Dr. Wang advance his research because we believe his findings could result in a product that could be commercialized successfully to greatly increase the ability of tissue to regrow around an implant, making it more effective and particularly useful for people in whom dental implants have previously been unsuccessful,” explained George F. Heinrich, M.D., vice chair and CEO of New Jersey Health Foundation.

The New Jersey Health Foundation Innovation Grants Program provides awards of up to $50,000 each for promising ideas to advance intellectual property toward commercialization.  Faculty and staff from organizations affiliated with New Jersey Health Foundation are eligible for funding (Kessler Foundation, Rowan University, Rutgers University, Princeton University and Stevens Institute of Technology).

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