School of Medicine
Showing 1-20 of 50 Results
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Soichi Wakatsuki
Professor of Photon Science and of Structural Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsUbiquitin signaling: structure, function, and therapeutics
Ubiquitin is a small protein modifier that is ubiquitously produced in the cells and takes part in the regulation of a wide range of cellular activities such as gene transcription and protein turnover. The key to the diversity of the ubiquitin roles in cells is that it is capable of interacting with other cellular proteins either as a single molecule or as different types of chains. Ubiquitin chains are produced through polymerization of ubiquitin molecules via any of their seven internal lysine residues or the N-terminal methionine residue. Covalent interaction of ubiquitin with other proteins is known as ubiquitination which is carried out through an enzymatic cascade composed of the ubiquitin-activating (E1), ubiquitin-conjugating (E2), and ubiquitin ligase (E3) enzymes. The ubiquitin signals are decoded by the ubiquitin-binding domains (UBDs). These domains often specifically recognize and non-covalently bind to the different ubiquitin species, resulting in distinct signaling outcomes.
We apply a combination of the structural (including protein crystallography, small angle x-ray scattering, cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) etc.), biocomputational and biochemical techniques to study the ubiquitylation and deubiquitination processes, and recognition of the ubiquitin chains by the proteins harboring ubiquitin-binding domains. Current research interests including SARS-COV2 proteases and their interactions with polyubiquitin chains and ubiquitin pathways in host cell responses, with an ultimate goal of providing strategies for effective therapeutics with reduced levels of side effects.
Protein self-assembly processes and applications.
The Surface layers (S-layers) are crystalline protein coats surrounding microbial cells. S-layer proteins (SLPs) regulate their extracellular, self-assembly by crystallizing when exposed to an environmental trigger. We have demonstrated that the Caulobacter crescentus SLP readily crystallizes into sheets both in vivo and in vitro via a calcium-triggered multistep assembly pathway. Observing crystallization using a time course of Cryo-EM imaging has revealed a crystalline intermediate wherein N-terminal nucleation domains exhibit motional dynamics with respect to rigid lattice-forming crystallization domains. Rate enhancement of protein crystallization by a discrete nucleation domain may enable engineering of kinetically controllable self-assembling 2D macromolecular nanomaterials. In particular, this is inspiring designing robust novel platform for nano-scale protein scaffolds for structure-based drug design and nano-bioreactor design for the carbon-cycling enzyme pathway enzymes. Current research focuses on development of nano-scaffolds for high throughput in vitro assays and structure determination of small and flexible proteins and their interaction partners using Cryo-EM, and applying them to cancer and anti-viral therapeutics.
Multiscale imaging and technology developments.
Multimodal, multiscale imaging modalities will be developed and integrated to understand how molecular level events of key enzymes and protein network are connected to cellular and multi-cellular functions through intra-cellular organization and interactions of the key machineries in the cell. Larger scale organization of these proteins will be studied by solution X-ray scattering and Cryo-EM. Their spatio-temporal arrangements in the cell organelles, membranes, and cytosol will be further studied by X-ray fluorescence imaging and correlated with cryoEM and super-resolution optical microscopy. We apply these multiscale integrative imaging approaches to biomedical, and environmental and bioenergy research questions with Stanford, DOE national labs, and other domestic and international collaborators. -
Rebecca D. Walker
Clinical Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsInterests include international development in emergency care, healthcare disparities, wilderness medicine, human rights, administration
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Dennis Wall
Professor of Pediatrics (Systems Medicine), of Biomedical Data Science and, by courtesy, of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSystems biology for design of clinical solutions that detect and treat disease
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James Wall
Associate Professor of Surgery (Pediatric Surgery) and, by courtesy, of Bioengineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHealth Technology Innovation
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Brian A. Wandell
Isaac and Madeline Stein Family Professor and Professor, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering, of Ophthalmology and at the Graduate School of Education
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsModels and measures of the human visual system. The brain pathways essential for reading development. Diffusion tensor imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging and computational modeling of visual perception and brain processes. Image systems simulations of optics and sensors and image processing. Data and computation management for reproducible research.
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C. Jason Wang, MD, PhD
Bowei Lee Professor and Professor of Pediatrics (General Pediatrics) and of Health Policy
BioDr. Wang is the Director of Center for Policy, Outcomes and Prevention. Prior to coming to Stanford in 2011, he was a faculty member at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health. His other professional experiences include working as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company and serving as the project manager for Taiwan's National Health Insurance Reform Task-force. His current interests include: 1) COVID-19 related policies; 2) developing tools for assessing and improving the value of healthcare; 3) facilitating the use of mobile technology in improving quality of care; 4) supporting competency-based medical education curriculum, and 5) engaging in healthcare delivery and payment reforms.
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Jinglong Wang
Postdoctoral Scholar, Radiation Biology
BioDr. Wang was trained at the Jacques Monod Institute and École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France under the mentorship of Dr. Terence Strick. and obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Paris in 2019. He dissected the molecular machinery of human and bacterial NHEJ, and interrogated the mechanism of SpCas9 tolerance to non-specific substrate using single-molecule nanomanipulation tools.
Jinglong’s research in the Frock Lab focuses on DSB-related chromosome topological changes and genomic interactions. -
Kevin Wang, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Dermatology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Wang lab takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying fundamental mechanisms controlling gene expression in mammalian cells, and how epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, chromatin modifications, and RNA influence chromatin dynamics to affect gene regulation.
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Marie Wang
Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEvaluation and management of the febrile young infant and infections in hospitalized children; promotion of appropriate antibiotic use.
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Nancy Ewen Wang
Professor of Emergency Medicine and, by courtesy, of Pediatrics (Hospital Medicine)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests- Disparities in Emergency Medical Services for children.
- Efficacy of novel interventions for pediatric access to care.
- Teaching and supporting community-initiated interventions and programs internationally. -
Paul J. Wang, MD
John R. and Ai Giak L. Singleton Director, Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine) and, by courtesy, of Bioengineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Wang's research centers on the development of innovative approaches to the treatment of arrhythmias, including more effective catheter ablation techniques, more reliable implantable devices, and less invasive treatments. Dr. Wang's clinical research interests include atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, syncope, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Dr. Wang has active collaborations with Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering Departments at Stanford.
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Samantha Wang
Clinical Assistant Professor, Medicine
BioSamantha Wang received her Bachelors degree in Molecular & Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and her MD and Masters in Health Science degrees from Yale University School of Medicine. She completed training in internal medicine residency followed by a chief resident year at Stanford Hospital & Clinics. She led the Women in Internal Medicine Residency Interest Group and was a member of the GME Women in Medicine Leadership Council, where she developed educational programs to develop leadership, wellness, and community among women trainees and allies, and has now continued the work as a faculty liaison. She then joined the Division of Hospital Medicine as faculty to care for acutely ill adult patients. Outside her clinical work, her area of focus is in medical education, specifically clinical skills, patient-centered communication strategies, and health equity; she received the David A. Rytand Teaching Award in recognition of her excellence in clinical teaching. She is the Co-Director for the Clinical Teaching Pathway of Distinction for the Internal Medicine Residency. She was the recipient of a 2021-2022 Teaching & Mentorship Academy educational innovation grant to develop a digitalized curriculum to teach racial justice in clinical decision-making and promote justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the continuum of medical training. Her research uses quantitative and qualitative methodologies and participatory qualitative approaches with community partners to understand how to effectively teach racial justice in the clinical learning environment.
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Shan X. Wang
Leland T. Edwards Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Radiology (Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsShan Wang was named the Leland T. Edwards Professor in the School of Engineering in 2018. He directs the Center for Magnetic Nanotechnology and is a leading expert in biosensors, information storage and spintronics. His research and inventions span across a variety of areas including magnetic biochips, in vitro diagnostics, cancer biomarkers, magnetic nanoparticles, magnetic sensors, magnetoresistive random access memory, and magnetic integrated inductors.
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Sui Wang, PhD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie retinal development and diseases. We utilize genetic and genomic tools to uncover how different types of retinal cells, including retinal neurons, glia and the vasculature, respond to developmental cues and disease insults at the epigenomic and transcriptional levels, and how they interact and collectively contribute to the integrity of the retina.
1. Retinal cell fate specification.
We are using genetic tools and methods, such as in vivo plasmid electroporation and CRISPR, to dissect the roles of cis-regulatory elements and transcription factors in controlling retinal cell fate specification.
2. The multicellular responses elicited by diabetes in the retina.
Diabetes can induce multicellular responses in the retina, including vascular lesions, glial dysfunction and neurodegeneration, all of which contribute to retinopathy. We are using diabetic rats as models to investigate the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the diabetes-induced multicellular responses, and the disease mechanisms of diabetic retinopathy.
3. Molecular tools that allow for cell type-specific labeling and manipulation in vivo.
Cis-regulatory elements, such as enhancers, play essential roles in directing tissue/cell type-specific and stage-specific expression. We are interested in identifying enhancers that can drive cell type-specific expression in the retina and brain, and incorporating them into plasmid or AAV based delivery systems. -
Taia T. Wang, MD, PhD, MSCI
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and of Microbiology and Immunology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsLaboratory of Mechanisms in Human Immunity and Disease Pathogenesis
Antibodies are a critical component of host defense. While the importance of humoral immunity has been recognized for decades, substantial gaps in knowledge remain around how antibodies function, and how their function is regulated, in vivo. Our laboratory performs studies designed to fill in these gaps, with the goal of enabling new vaccine and therapeutic strategies to prevent human disease. My interest in this area culminated from training in medicine, RNA virus biology (PhD), and molecular antibody biology (postdoctoral training). The intersection of these topics, viral immunity and disease pathogenesis, is the focus of our work. The essential question driving our research is why a small subset of people develop severe or fatal disease during viral infection while most infections result in a subclinical or mild outcome, even in at-risk populations. Our hypothesis is that the antibody signaling pathways that are engaged during viral infection through Fc gamma receptors (FcγRs) are a key driver of these distinct outcomes. We are focused on several major unknowns to address this hypothesis: How are antibody effector functions regulated in vivo and does this change in disease? How do distinct signaling pathways engaged by IgG immune complex-FcγR interactions impact host cell genetic regulation and the ultimate inflammatory/immune response? What are the tissue-specific functions that antibodies engage? How does the heterogeneity in post-translational modifications (PTMs) of human antibodies contribute to heterogeneity in viral immunity?
Current clinical studies:
Recruiting:
An Open Label Study of IgG Fc Glycan Composition in Human Immunity
Principal Investigator: Taia T. Wang, MD, PhD
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT01967238
