Newswise — LA JOLLA, CALIF. – September 20, 2021 Eric Wang, Ph.D., has joined Sanford Burnham Prebys as an assistant professor in the Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program. Wang comes to Sanford Burnham Prebys from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he was a postdoctoral research fellow.
“Sanford Burnham Prebys is renowned for its groundbreaking cancer research,” says Wang. “I’m thrilled to be joining such esteemed faculty and am looking forward to uncovering new therapeutic approaches for cancer.”
Wang’s lab focuses on using and developing chemical tools to influence the activity of tumor and immune cells, and is particularly interested in targeting transcription factors, proteins that help regulate the expression of genes.
“When gene transcription goes awry, many diseases can occur, including cancer,” says Wang. “Developing tools that either target transcriptional vulnerabilities in cancer cells or that reprogram immune cells could help us develop new therapeutic strategies.”
As a postdoctoral research fellow in the lab of Nathanael Gray, Ph.D at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Wang worked on several facets of chemical biology, including targeted protein degradation, an emerging treatment modality in which proteins are selectively destroyed. He also worked on developing pharmacological approaches to modulate immune cell activity to bolster anti-tumor immunity.
“Dr. Wang’s broad and varied expertise in chemical biology and cancer research will be a major asset to our current and future research programs,” says Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., president of Sanford Burnham Prebys. “We are delighted to have him working with us here at the Institute.”
Prior to his fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Wang completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been the recipient of several awards and fellowships, including a Robert Black Fellowship from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, an NRSA Individual Research Fellowship from the NIH, and a Graduate Research Fellowship from the NSF.
About Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Research Institute
Sanford Burnham Prebys is a preeminent, independent biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding human biology and disease and advancing scientific discoveries to profoundly impact human health. For more than 40 years, our research has produced breakthroughs in cancer, neuroscience, immunology and children’s diseases, and is anchored by our NCI-designated Cancer Center and advanced drug discovery capabilities. For more information, visit us at SBPdiscovery.org or on Facebook at facebook.com/SBPdiscovery and on Twitter @SBPdiscovery.
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