About the PI
Wilson Poon, PhD
Dr. Wilson Poon is an assistant professor in the Department of Metallurgical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering at UTEP. Dr. Poon received his PhD from University of Toronto (Canada) in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, investigating the organ- and cellular-level barriers to nanoparticle delivery in vivo. Following that, he was awarded an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship for post-doctoral training in RNA biology and gene editing at the University of California San Francisco in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He has published peer-reviewed academic papers in journals such as Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), and ACS Nano. He is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). His research expertise is in understanding how materials science and biology inform nanoparticle-based drug carrier design and delivery systems engineering. In his spare time, he enjoys swimming, powerlifting, and photography.
Education and Training
- Postdoctoral Fellow: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of California, San Francisco
- PhD in Biomedical Engineering: Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
- MEng in Biomedical Engineering: Department of Biomedical Engineering, McGill University
- BASc in Engineering Science: Division of Engineering Science, University of Toronto
Awards and Honors
- 2022: University of Texas System Rising STARs Award
- 2020: NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 2020: University of Toronto Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award
- 2018: University of Toronto Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering Teaching Assistant Award of Excellence
- 2017: Ontario Graduate Scholarship
- 2015: Barbara and Frank Milligan Graduate Fellowship
- 2015: Cecil Yip Doctoral Research Award
- 2014: CIHR Canadian Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral
- 2012: CIHR Canadian Graduate Scholarship - Masters
Professional Memberships
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
- Society for Biomaterials (SfB)
- European Journal of Pharmaceutics & Biopharmaceutics (EJPB) - Young Investigators Board
- RSC Pharmaceutics - Advisory Board
Teaching
- MME4390/BME5390/BME6391 - Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications
- BME5303/6303 - BME Research and Lab Methods
- MME3306 - Rate Processes