Meet Joe Wang

Joseph Wang, is currently a SAIC Endowed Chair, Distinguished Professor of Nanoengineering and Director of the Center for Wearable Sensors at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Between 2014 and 2019 he served as the Chair of the Department of Nanoengineering at UCSD. Previously, he was a Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) and Director of Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors at the Biodesign Institute. He obtained his higher education at the Technion and being awarded his D. Sc. in 1978. From 1978 to 1980 he served as a research associate at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) and joined New Mexico State University (NMSU) at 1980. From 2001-2004, he held a Regents Professorship and a Manasse Chair positions at NMSU. Since 1980, 30 Ph.D. candidates and 300 research associates and visiting scholars have studied with Professor Wang.

Prof. Wang’s research focuses on field of nanobioelectronics and nanorobotics. Wang’s interests include nanomotors, nanorobotics and nanoactuators, nanoscale barcodes, nanomedicine, wearable on body sensors and biofuel cells, bioelectronic detection of proteins and nucleic acids, microfabrication, self-assembly of nanostructures, microfluidic devices (Lab-on-a-chip), nanoparticle-based bioassays, bionanomaterials, management of diabetes, point-of-care clinical development of electrochemical sensing devices for clinical and environmental monitoring, on-body glucose biosensors,  new surfaces and interfaces, sensor/recognition coatings, remote sensing, the development of techniques for ultra trace measurements and the design of on-line flow detectors. Prof. Wang’s contributions have greatly enhanced the power and scope of applications of nanomachines and have had major impacts upon the fields of wearable sensors, the use of nanomaterials in bioanalysis, and upon the growing popularity of electroanalytical techniques.

He has authored over 1150 research papers (H-Index 176 using Google Scholar), 40 patents, 40 chapters and 12 books including, “STRIPPING ANALYSIS,” “ELECTROANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES IN CLINICAL CHEMISTRY AND LABORATORY MEDICINE,” “BIOSENSORS AND CHEMICAL SENSORS,” “NANOMACHINES: FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS”, “ELECTROCHEMISTRY OF NUCLEIC ACIDS AND PROTEINS,” “ANALYTICAL ELECTROCHEMISTRY” (now in 3rd edition), “ELECTROCHEMICAL SENSORS, BIOSENSORS AND THEIR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS,” “NANOBIOSENSING”, and “BIOSENSORS FOR DIRECT MONITORING OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS.” His enthusiasm and willingness to collaborate with colleagues have made him a very popular member of the international electrochemical community. Prof. Wang has presented more than 350 invited and plenary lectures in 60 countries.

Wang has served on the Editorial Boards of many major international journals (in the fields of nanotechnology, electrochemistry, sensors and analytical chemistry) and has been awarded many prestigious international awards. He is the recipient of the NSF Special Creativity Award in 2008, the 1999 and 2006 American Chemical Society Awards for Chemical Instrumentation and Electrochemistry, respectively, the 2018 Electrochemical Society (ECS) Sensor Outstanding Achievement Award, the ISI ‘Citation Laureate’ Award for being the Most Cited Scientist in Engineering in the World (during 1991-2001). He has been an ISI Thomson Reutors Highly Cited Researcher (in both Engineering and Chemistry between 2014 and 2019), and has been included in the Thompson Reauters List of 2015 World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds. Professor Wang is also the awardee of the 1994 Heyrovsky Memorial Medal (of the Czech Republic) for his contributions to voltammetry, and the 2021 Talanta Medal for excellence in Analytical Chemistry. He was awarded a Honorary Professor from National University (Cordoba, Argentina) in 2004, an Honorary Doctor Causa from Complutense University (Madrid, Spain) in 2007, a Honorary Member of the Slovenia National Institute of Chemistry, Honorary Professor from University of Science Technology Beijing and Fudan University (China), in 2011 and 2016, Honorary Doctor Causa of Alcala University (Spain) in 2011, of Charles University (Prague) and University of Medicine and Pharmacy (Cluj Romania) in 2017, and of Comenius University (Slovakia) in 2018, the 2012 Breyer Medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, the 2013 Spiers Memorial Award of the UK Royal Society, a Nanyang Professor from NTU (Singapore) in 2008,  and  served as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE), of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in 2000. In 1995 and 1997, he became the most cited electrochemist in the world, and at the 1st  place in the ISI’s list of ‘Most Cited Researchers in Chemistry’ for the 1997-2007 period. Professor Wang has been selected for the Electrochemistry Communications (Elsevier) Award 2005, for the journal highest-quality most-cited paper. He also received the ASU Faculty Achievement Award in 2007 and the NMSU Westhafer Top Faculty Award in 1990.

Wang has been the Founding Editor of the Wiley journal Electroanalysis, and served as its Chief Editor between 1988 to 2017. He has been a member of the Advisory Editor Board of several international journals including ACS Nano, ACS Sensors, Analytica Chimica Acta,  Advanced Electronic Materials, Advanced Materials Technologies, Talanta, Applied Materials Today, Digital Medicine, Scientific Reports, ChemElectroChem, Research, Digital Medicine, Analyst, Sensors, Analytical Letters, Electrochemistry Communications, Small Structures, Analytical Instrumentation, Analytical Communications, Analysis Europa, Encyclopedia of Analytical Sciences, Current Topics in Analytical Chemistry, Current Analytical Chemistry, and Microfluidics & Nanofluidics. He has also served as the instructor of the ACS Short Course “Electrochemical Sensors,”and as a member of the commission for electroanalytical chemistry of IUPAC.