Dr. van Wijnen received BSc (1983) and MSc (1987) degrees from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands while also affiliated with the University of Florida (1984-1987). He received his PhD from UMass Medical School (Worcester, MA) in 1991, and ascended the academic faculty ranks (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor). In 2012, he established a new research group at Mayo Clinic focusing on orthopedic tissue regeneration, musculoskeletal tumors and translational applications. Currently, he has an H-factor of 75 and has authored >500 PubMed papers that have been collectively cited >20,000 times .
The van Wijnen group focuses on projects that examine biological and mechanistic questions fundamental to regulation and deregulation of bone cell growth and differentiation using state-of-the-art approaches including genomics, proteomics, mouse genetics and microscopy to address gene regulation, cell signaling, microRNAs and epigenetics. The group has broad interests on biological mechanisms and patient-oriented research related to regenerative medicine, musculoskeletal development (bone, cartilage, ligament & tendon), as well as pluripotent embryonic and multipotent adult stem cells.