Alex K. Wong, MD

Dr. Alex K. Wong is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery with attending staff appointments at USC University Hospital and LAC+USC Medical Center. He specializes in microsurgical free tissue transfer for the management of complex wounds, breast reconstruction, as well as aesthetic surgery of the face, breast, and body. Dr. Wong is certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery and is an Associate Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is also a Member of the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery and Plastic Surgery Research Council. Dr. Wong was named one of Pasadena Magazine's Top Doctors for 2010 and 2011.

As a member of the full time USC faculty, Dr. Wong teaches the next generation of doctors and plastic surgeons. He serves as the Medical Student Preceptor for Plastic Surgery Clerkship at the Keck School of Medicine and is the Associate Director of the USC Microsurgery Fellowship.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Wong directs a research laboratory at the Keck School of Medicine of USC with focus areas in adult-derived stem cells for wound healing, molecular pathogenesis of silicone breast implant capsular contracture, and microvascular flap physiology. Dr. Wong has received multiple grants and awards from organizations such as the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and American Society for Maxillofacial Surgery. Recently, he was awarded grants from the Wright Foundation and the American Cancer Society for his research on stem cells. His work has been published in a variety of high impact peer reviewed journals.

Prior to joining the faculty at USC, Dr. Wong completed his Fellowship training at the NYU Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and completed his formal Plastic Surgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Wong received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and is an honors graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences of Cornell University.

Selected Publications:

Wong, A.K., Alfert, M., Castrillion, D.H., Shen, Q., Holash, J., Yancopoulos, G.D., and Chin, L. Excessive tumor-elaborated VEGF and its neutralization define a lethal paraneoplastic syndrome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 98: 7481- 7486, 2001.

Wong, A.K., Schönmeyr, B.H., Singh, P., Carlson, D.L., Li, S., and Mehrara, B.J. Histological Analysis of Angiogenesis and Lymphangiogenesis in Human Acellular Dermis. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Apr;121(4):1144-52, 2008.

Wong, A.K., Mei, L., Soares, M.A., Schönmeyr, B.H., and Mehrara, B.J. Radioprotection of Osteoblasts by Amifostine and a Fractionated Dose Regimen. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Feb;123(2 Suppl):104S-13S, 2009.

Zhang QZ, Su WR, Shi SH, Wilder-Smith P, Xiang AP, Wong A, Nguyen AL, Kwon CW, Le AD. Human gingiva-derived mesenchymal stem cells elicit polarization of m2 macrophages and enhance cutaneous wound healing. Stem Cells. 2010 Oct;28(10):1856-68.