Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

James H-C Wang, PhD

  • Professor
  • Albert B. Ferguson, Jr., MD, Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Vice Chair of Research
  • Director, MechanoBiology Laboratory

Dr. James H-C. Wang is a Professor in the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery, PM&R, and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, where he currently serves as Vice Chair of Research and Director of the MechanoBiology Laboratory at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Additionally, he is a faculty member at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Dr. Wang completed his Bachelor of Science in Solid Mechanics in 1982 and his Master of Science in Experimental Biomechanics in 1989, both from Tongji University, China. After gaining nine years of teaching and research experience at the same university, he moved to the United States in 1991 to pursue Orthopaedic biomechanics at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery of the Texas Tech Health Science Center. Later, he obtained his PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Cincinnati, where he spent four years studying cell mechanobiology at the UC School of Medicine’s Cell Biology Department. After earning his PhD, Dr. Wang worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Medical School and Washington University in St. Louis, researching the molecular signaling pathways that lead to actin cytoskeletal remodeling of human endothelial cells under dynamic mechanical stretching conditions.

After completing his research fellowships at these two institutions, Dr. Wang joined the faculty of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1998 and has since remained a dedicated faculty member.

Education & Training

  • PhD, University of Cincinnati
  • MS, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
  • BS, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

Representative Publications

  1. Wang, JH-C. Substrate deformation determines actin cytoskeleton reorganization: A  mathematical modeling and experimental study. J theor Biol. 202: 33-41, 2000.
  2. Zhang, J; Pan, T; Im, H-J; Fu, F; Wang, JH-C. Differential properties of human ACL and MCL stem cells may be responsible for their differential healing capacity. BMC Medicine 9:68, 2011.
  3. Zhao, G; Zhang, J; Nie, D; Zhou, Y; Li, F; Onishi, K; Billiar, T; Wang, JH-C. HMGB1 mediates the development of tendinopathy due to mechanical overloading. PLoS ONE 14(9):e2222369, 2019.
  4. Zhang, J; Li, F; Nie, D; Onishi, K; Hogan, MV; Wang, JH-C. Effect of metformin on development of tendinopathy due to mechanical overloading in an animal model. Foot and Ankle Int,  41(12) 1455–1465, 2020.
  5. Zhang, J; Nie, D; Williamson, K; McDowell, A; Hogan, MV; Wang, JH-C. Moderate and intensive mechanical loading differentially modulate the phenotype of tendon stem/progenitor cells in vivo. PLoS ONE, Dec 29;15(12):e0242640. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242640. eCollection 2020.
  6. Zhang, J; Li, F; Williamson, KM; Tan, S; Scott, D; Onishi, K; Hogan, MV; Wang, JH-C. Characterization of the structure, vascularity, and stem/progenitor cell populations in porcine Achilles tendon (PAT). Cell Tissue Res, 384(2) 367-387, 2021.
  7. Nie, D; Zhang, J; Zhou, Y; Sun, J; Wang, W; Wang, JH-C. Rapamycin treatment of tendon stem/progenitor cells reduces cellular senescence by upregulating autophagy. Stem Cell Intl, 2021,  doi: 10.1155/2021/6638249. eCollection 2021.
  8. Nie, D; Zhou, Y; Wang, W; Zhang, J; Wang, JH-C. Mechanical overloading-induced activation of mTOR signaling in tendon stem/progenitor cells contributes to tendinopathy development. Front Cell Dev Biol, 9, 687856. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.687856. eCollection, 2021.
  9. Zhang, J; Li, F; Augi, T; Williamson, KM; Onishi, K; Hogan, MV; Neal, MD; Wang, JH-C. Platelet HMGB1 in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) promotes tendon wound healing. PLoS ONE, 16(9): e0251166, 2021.
  10. Zhang, J; Brown, R; Hogan, MV; Onishi, K; Wang, JH-C. Metformin improves tendon degeneration by blocking translocation of HMGB1 and suppressing tendon inflammation and senescence in aging mice. J Orthop Res,10.1002/jor.25470. doi: 10.1002/jor.25470, 2022.

Pubmed link

Research Interests

  • Mechanobiology of tendon and ligament
  • Cellular and molecular mechanisms of tendinopathy
  • Development of therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of tendinopathy
  • Application of biologics and biomaterials to repair tendon and tendon-bone interface

Research Grants

Repurposed Metformin as a Preventative Therapeutic for Tendon Overuse Injuries
DOD-MTEC, W81XWH2290016
Role: PI
​10/01/2022 - 09/30/2024

Recovery of Tendon Injury by Targeting Its Root Cause and Enhancing Tendon Stem Cells
DOD OR220017
Role: PI
09/30/2023 - 08/31/2026

Managing Chronic Tendon Pain by Repurposing Metformin
DOD CP220013
Role: PI
09/30/2023 - 08/31/2025