Rate My Professor Wenji Dong

Wenji Dong is The Paul Hohenschuh Distinguished Professor in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at Washington State University. He earned his B.S. in chemistry in 1982 and M.S. in inorganic chemistry in 1985 from Lanzhou University, P.R. China, followed by a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1992 from the University of London, England, supported by a British Council scholarship. Dr. Dong began his postdoctoral training as a fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, from 1993 to 1994. He then advanced through several research roles at the University of Alabama at Birmingham: Research Fellow of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (1994–1996), Research Instructor (1996–2001), and Research Assistant Professor (2001–2005). In 2006, he joined Washington State University as an Assistant Professor in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering and the Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience program, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2010, and now serves as full Professor. He also holds a faculty appointment in the Neuroscience Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience.

Dr. Dong's research interests center on understanding Ca²⁺-activated regulation of cardiac myofilament in healthy and diseased hearts using fluorescence spectroscopic approaches including FRET, designing and developing microfluidic sensors for biological, cellular research, and clinical applications in early diagnosis of diseases, and developing novel luminescent materials and approaches for solar energy harvest such as wavelength-shifting materials and solar concentrators. Key publications include "Role of the C-terminus mobile domain of cardiac troponin I in the regulation of thin filament activation in skinned papillary muscle strips" (2018), "Functional significance of C-terminal mobile domain of cardiac troponin I" (2017), "Dynamic Equilibrium of Cardiac Troponin C’s Hydrophobic Cleft and Its Modulation by Ca²⁺ Sensitizers and a Ca²⁺ Sensitivity Blunting Phosphomimic, cTnT(T204E)" (2017), "Fluorescence based characterization of calcium sensitizer action on the troponin complex" (2016), "Increased titin compliance reduced length-dependent contraction and slowed cross-bridge kinetics in skinned myocardial strips from Rbm20ΔRRM mice" (2016), and "In situ time-resolved FRET reveals effects of sarcomere length on cardiac thin-filament activation" (2014). His recognition includes the Paul Hohenschuh Distinguished Professorship.