Chunming Wang

Academic Qualifications

Chunming (CM) received BSc and MSc degrees in Biochemistry from Nanjing University (China), entering biomaterials research in Junfeng Zhang’s laboratory, and obtained his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) under Dong-An Wang’s supervision. He undertook his postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge (UK), working between Wilhelm Huck’s group in the Chemistry Department and Fiona Watt’s lab at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research. He later assisted Victor Nurcombe and Simon Cool at the Institute of Medical Biology (Singapore) on an industry-led translational project. In Oct 2012, CM started his independent research at the University of Macau, as Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in Aug 2018 and Professor in Aug 2022. Since January 2022, he has been appointed as Deputy Director of Zhuhai UM Science & Technology Research Institute (ZUMRI), UM’s powerhouse for Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation in the Greater Bay Area. On 1 September, he took office as the Interim Director of the University’s Research Services & Knowledge Transfer Office (RSKTO). He is also a co-founder of Genetrump Companhia Limitada (Macau), an award-winning spin-off from UM specialising in glycan therapeutics.

• 2020.10 – Outstanding Young Scholars Fund (国家自然科学基金-优青), National Natural Science Foundation of China
• 2020.12 – ‘Qi-Huang’ Youth Scholarship (青年岐黄学者), the State Administration of TCM, China
• 2021.01 – Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), UK
• 2021.04 – Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), UK

Research Interests

Cells and tissue microenvironment are like seeds and soil, and we aim to optimise the soil to improve the seeds’ growth. We design and test biomaterials- or cell-based therapeutic strategies in various models, ranging from bone defects to limb ischemia to diabetic skin ulcers. We particularly focus on: i) (poly-/oligo-) glucomannans & derivatives: studying the structure-activity relationship and designing immunoactive biomaterials and ii) engineering ‘new’ macrophages with reparative functions.

To date, CM has as PI won 20 research grants, notably including:

• Macao Key R&D Project, awarded in 2022
• National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Outstanding Young Scholars Fund, awarded in 2020
• Macao Science & Technology Development Fund (abbreviation in Portuguese: FDCT): five research grants from 2013 to 2020 to date
• A FDCT-NSFC joint sponsorship in 2019
• A FDCT-GDST joint sponsorship in 2021
• A Shenzhen S&T Innovation Commission grant in 2021
• A Huafa-UM Joint Translational Research grant in 2021
• University of Macau Research Committee
• Two State Key Labs in Mainland universities.

These generous supports have enabled the thriving of ‘Chun Ming Tong Sui’ (春明糖水), a young and vibrant team devoted to weaving sweet polymer chains into new medicines. The team effort of CMTS has enabled CM to see himself twice among the winners of the Natural Science Award at the Macao Science and Technology Awards – 2nd and 3rd Prize in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

A spin-off company specialised in glycans for wound healing has won multiple national awards and attracted millions of investments in Macau and the Greater Bay Area.