Rocky Tuan

Professor Rocky S. Tuan (PhD, Rockefeller University), 8th Vice-Chancellor and President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK; 2018 to 2025), is an internationally renowned biomedical scientist in musculoskeletal biology, tissue regeneration, stem cells, biomaterials, bioprinting, and tissue/organ-on-a-chip technologies. From 2017-2026, he was the Lee Professor of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at CUHK, where he founded the Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (iTERM) in 2016. Prior to his tenure at CUHK, he was a Distinguished Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and the founding Chief of the Cartilage Biology and Orthopaedics Branch of the National Institute of Arthritis, and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is a highly cited author of over 680 publications with ~79,000 citations (h-index=141), and recipient of multiple international recognitions, including Fellowship in the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), the latest recognitions being the 2025 Jensen Tissue Engineering Award from TERMIS, Honorary Degree (Doctor of Medicine honoris causa) from the University of Sydney, and the 2026 Distinguished Investigator Award from the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS). An international leader in sustainable development, he serves on the Leadership Council of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the High-Level Advisory Council of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Academy. Professor Tuan was named by Times Higher Education as one of the “People of the Year, 2019”, a recognition given to only 11 individuals from around the world, including a Nobel Prize winner, who had shaped higher education in 2019. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of Stem Cell Research & Therapy (2009-present), founding Associate Editor of Stem Cells Translational Medicine (2011-2025), and founder and organizer of the Solaris Symposium.