Biography
After obtaining his Ph.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996, Dr. Wang did his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Philip Beachy at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He joined the faculty of Weill Medical College as an Assistant Professor in 2001 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2007. In the graduate school, Dr. Wang is a member of the Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology (BCMB) Program. He is a co-course director of two focus group courses and gives lectures in a lecture course. In medical school, Dr. Wang is a mediator for a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) course. He is a recipient of March of Dimes Starter award; his research is currently supported by two R01 grants from the NIH. Dr. Wang serves as an ad hoc member of NIH study sections, American Heart Association, Wellcome Trust in UK, and Medical Research Council (MRC) in UK. He is also an ad hoc reviewer for several scientific journals.
The research interest of Dr. Wang is in Hedgehog signaling in development and cancer. Hedgehogs (Hh) are secreted signaling proteins that play fundamental roles in the development of the central nervous system (CNS), limbs, and many other structures. A loss of or decrease in Hh signaling pathway activity results in severe developmental birth defects, whereas inappropriate activation of the Hh signaling pathway causes several common types of human cancer, including basal cell carcinoma and medulloblastoma. Currently, the research of Dr. Wang’s lab focuses on three areas: 1) molecular mechanism of Hedgehog signal transduction, 2) Hedgehog-dependent mouse embryonic patterning, and 3) Hedgehog signaling-regulated cancers. Dr. Wang’s lab takes an integrated approach that includes biochemical, molecular, cell biological, and genetic methods to conduct the research. Dr. Wang’s lab has made a significant contribution to the elucidation of the molecular regulation of the Gli transcription factors in the Hedgehog signaling pathway. Anyone who is interested in the Dr. Wang’s research should contact him for the most current research projects.
