Newsmaker: Rocky Tuan

Noteworthy: Tuan received a research grant from the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to expand work on 3-D technology to evaluate accelerated aging and degeneration of bones that occur during space travel. Tuan and colleagues are creating a bioreactor that mimics functional bone tissues, so that testing can be conducted on board the International Space Station.

Age: 65

Residence: Squirrel Hill

Family: Wife, Cecilia Lo, who is chair of the department of developmental biology at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; son, Charles, 21

Occupation: Director of the cellular and molecular engineering lab in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Education:Bachelor's degree in chemistry from Berea College in Berea, Ky. He received his Ph.D. in life sciences from Rockefeller University in New York City.

Background: Tuan was born and raised in Hong Kong and was influenced to move to the United States after he attended a lecture by the former president of Berea College. While at Berea, he enrolled in an undergraduate research program in a biochemistry lab at University of Louisville's medical school. Before moving to Pittsburgh, Tuan worked as chief of cartilage biology and orthopedics at the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

Quote: “Our research will benefit not only the health of astronauts for long stays in space on the International Space Station or a future journey to Mars, but also will help people on Earth, providing capabilities for the screening of drug therapies, enhancing personalized medicine and developing bioreactor technologies for tissue engineering.”