Short Biosketch

Dr. Peter X Ma received his BS in Polymer Chemistry and MS in Polymer Materials from Tsinghua University (Beijing, China), and Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from Rutgers University. He then did his postdoctoral research at MIT and Harvard Medical School on Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering. In 1996, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan, in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences, School of Dentistry. He also holds joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering Center in the College of Engineering.

Selected Honors, Awards and Activities    

• Outstanding Undergraduate Student, Tsinghua University
• Outstanding Graduate Student, Tsinghua University
• Graduate School Excellence Fellow, Rutgers University
• The NOVARTIS Award (with J.M. Pollok et al.) 1997
• DuPont Young Professor, 2000-2003
• Featured as one of five biomedical engineers, Annual Report of The Whitaker Foundation, 2005
• Elected to Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, 2006
• Honorary Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 2008
• Honorary Professor, Zhejiang University Medical School, Hangzhou, China, 2008
• Reviewing articles for 56 journals
• Reviewing grant proposals for NIH, NSF, US Army, NSERC (Canada), Canada Foundation for Innovation, Austrian Science Fund, Swiss NSF, Israel Science Foundation, Wellcome Trust Foundation (UK), Singapore Science & Engineering Council, Singapore National Medical Research Council, Singapore National Research Foundation, Hong Kong UGC, Hong Kong RGC, NSF of China, US Civilian Research & Development Foundation, ACS Petroleum Research Fund, MIT Sea Grant College Program etc.
• Chaired 26 symposiums and conference sessions
• Served on 19 symposium and conference organization committees
• Delivered 140 keynote/invited lectures
• Societies: SFB, TERMIS, BMES, ACS, MRS, ASBMR, ORS, AICHE, IADR, AADR, TMS, and AAAS

Journal and Book Covers From the Ma Lab

JBMR 44(4)

JBMR 46(1)

Tissue Eng 7(1)

JBMR 54(2)

Mat Today 7(5)

CRC Press

Wiley-VCH

Research
Research in Ma group has been supported by NIH (NIDCR, NIGMS and NIDDK), NASA, NSF, Whitaker Foundation, and industry.

• Polymeric Biomaterials: Development and structure-property relationship studies of polymer systems of biomedical importance, such as biodegradable polymers, bioactive polymer materials, and mechanically superior polymeric multiphase materials.
• Phase-separation and Self-assembly: Physical mechanisms and biomedical applications of three-dimensional ordered structure formation, especially at the nanometer scale.
• Nano Biomaterials: Nano-fibrous matrix and nano spheres for tissue engineering and controlled release of regulating factors; biomimetic polymer/ceramic nano composite materials for mineralized tissue engineering.
• Bioactive scaffolds for tissue engineering: 3D surface functionalization, and controlled release of biological molecules in scaffolds.
• Biomimetic Materials: Development of novel synthetic materials inspired by natural materials.
• Tissue Engineering: Regeneration of 3D functional tissues (bone, cartilage, liver, cardiovascular tissues…); understanding polymer-cell interactions, signal and substrate requirements for cell proliferation, differentiation and tissue regeneration.
• Controlled Release: Nano/micro-spheres and matrices for the delivery of drugs and biological molecules in a sustained, pulsatile, targeting, or environmentally responsive manner.
• Adult and embryonic stem cells for regenerative medicine.

Five Selected Recent Publications

1. PX Ma, Biomimetic Materials for Tissue Engineering, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 60: 184-198 (2008).         Times Cited (by October 4, 2009): 35

2. JX Zhang and PX Ma. Polymeric Core-Shell Assemblies Mediated by Holst-Guest Interactions: Versatile Nanocarriers for Drug Delivery, Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 48(5): 964-968 (2009).    

3. LA Smith, X Liu, J Hu, and PX Ma. The Influence of Three Dimensional Nanofibrous Scaffolds on the Osteogenic Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells. Biomaterials. 30(13): 2516-2522 (2009).

4. KM Woo, VJ Chen, HJ Kim, HM Jung, TI Kim, HI Shin, JH Baek, HM Ryoo, and PX Ma. Comparative evaluation of nano-fibrous scaffolding for bone regeneration in critical size calvarial defects. Tissue Engineering, 15(8): 2155-62 (2009).

5. J Hu, K Feng, X Liu, PX Ma, Chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiations of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells on a nanofibrous scaffold with designed pore network, Biomaterials, 30(28):5061-5067 (2009).

Five Top Cited Publications
1.   R Zhang and PX Ma. Poly(a-hydroxyl acids)/hydroxyapatite porous composites for bone tissue engineering: 1. Preparation and morphology. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, 44(4): 446-455(1999).
      Times Cited (by October 4, 2009): 261
2.   R Zhang and PX Ma. Porous poly(L-lactic acid)/apatite composites created by a biomimetic process. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, 45(4): 285-293 (1999).
      Times Cited (by October 4, 2009): 192
3.   PX Ma and R Zhang. Synthetic nano-scale fibrous extracellular matrix. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, 46(1): 60-72 (1999).
      Times Cited (by October 4, 2009): 185
4.   PX Ma and J Choi. Biodegradable polymer scaffolds with well-defined interconnected spherical pore network. Tissue Engineering, 7(1): 23-33 (2001).
      Times Cited (by October 4, 2009): 164
5.   T Shinoka, D Shum-Tim, PX Ma, RE Tanel, N Isogai, R Langer, JP Vacanti, and JE Mayer, Jr. Creation of viable pulmonary artery autografts through tissue engineering. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 115(3): 536-45 (1998).
      Times Cited (by October 4, 2009): 154

Book

"Scaffolding in Tissue Engineering," P.X. Ma and J. Elisseeff. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2006.

Teaching