Where Are They Now: Joyce Wong

From the practice room to the research lab, Joyce Wong uses the lessons learned in music to improve maternal and child health.

June 5, 2023

Dr. Joyce Wong (IAC/NMC 78-81) studied cello and piano for four summers at Interlochen’s National Music Camp, but her education and career have taken her deep into the world of science. Along the way, she has looked for ways to take music with her. During both her undergraduate and graduate years at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she was a member of the MIT Chamber Music Society, and later in her career she enlisted composer John MacDonald to translate the structure of different silk protein fragment sequences into a series of musical compositions for flute. She still very much enjoys playing cello and piano in her leisure time. Her laboratory at Boston University focuses on the development of biomaterials to diagnose and treat disease for maternal and child health. She is currently the President of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering—an honorific society that seeks to educate and advocate for medical and biological engineering for the benefit of society. She has been elected Fellow of a number of societies: National Academy of Inventors, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, and Controlled Release Society.

Music is the universal language. The arts taught me focus and discipline, which I use in my career in engineering. Chamber music taught me the importance of working together on a team, including how to trust your partners and pull your weight on a project. I learned to break up a problem into smaller pieces, like I would if I were learning a difficult piece of music. And I have met a lot of people through music—and diversity of thought and perspective is critical in solving challenging problems.