Professor Cao received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto (Toronto, ON) in 2001. His Ph.D. research was focused on tissue engineering strategies for nerve regeneration after spinal cord injuries.
He further pursued his postdoctoral training first at Harvard University (Boston, MA) and then at Brown University (Providence, RI) researching on genetically modified artificial living skin equivalents for burn patients. Professor Cao joined the department in 2005. His current research interests are biomaterials, tissue engineering and microfabrications.