Yaoqi A. Wang, PhD

Bio

Dr. Yaoqi Alan Wang is Paige Brown Professor at the Brown Center for Immunotherapy and Department of Medicine of Indiana University and member of the Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.  Dr. Wang completed his Ph.D training at Boston University Medical School in the field of developmental biology and his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Philip Leder at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Wang's recent research focus is on elucidating of the tumor microenvironment, particularly the myeloid suppressive cells (Nature 2017; Cancer Cell 2019; Cancer Discovery 2020; Nature Cancer 2022) by employing various orthotopic, GEM and chimeric ES tumor models (Cell 2016; Cancer Discovery 2020). In collaboration with computational scientists, Dr. Wang has defined synthetic lethal approaches to target tumor suppressor deletion in cancers, such as deletions in PTEN, APC and SMAD4 (Nature 2017; Cancer Discovery 2022). His basic and translational work has led to a phase Ib/II clinical trial at MD Anderson for metastatic CRC patients (STOPTRAFFIC-1). Dr. Wang’s research is currently funded by grants from NCI and DOD. He has trained many postdoctoral fellows who have now become PI (12) at leading academic institutions.

Key Publications

Liao W, Overman MJ, Boutin AT, Shang X, Zhao D, Dey P, Li J, Wang G, Lan Z, Li J, Tang M, Jiang S, Ma X, Chen P, Katkhuda R, Korphaisarn K, Chakravarti D, Chang A, Spring DJ, Chang Q, Zhang J, Maru DM, Maeda DY, Zebala JA, Kopetz S, Wang YA*, DePinho RA. KRAS-IRF2 Axis Drives Immune Suppression and Immune Therapy Resistance in Colorectal Cancer. Cancer Cell. 2019 Apr 15;35(4):559-572.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2019.02.008. Epub 2019 Mar 21. PMID: 30905761; PMCID: PMC6467776.

Chen P, Hsu WH, Chang A, Tan Z, Lan Z, Zhou A, Spring DJ, Lang FF, Wang YA*, DePinho RA. Circadian Regulator CLOCK Recruits Immune-Suppressive Microglia into the GBM Tumor Microenvironment. Cancer Discov. 2020 Mar;10(3):371-381. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-19-0400. Epub 2020 Jan 9. PMID: 31919052; PMCID: PMC7058515.

Zhao D, Cai L, Lu X, Liang X, Li J, Chen P, Ittmann M, Shang X, Jiang S, Li H, Meng C, Flores I, Song JH, Horner JW, Lan Z, Wu CJ, Li J, Chang Q, Chen KC, Wang G, Deng P, Spring DJ, Wang YA*, DePinho RA. Chromatin Regulator CHD1 Remodels the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment in PTEN-Deficient Prostate Cancer. Cancer Discov. 2020 Sep;10(9):1374-1387. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-19-1352. Epub 2020 May 8. PMID: 32385075; PMCID: PMC7483306.

Lee R, Li J, Li J, Wu CJ, Jiang S, Hsu WH, Chakravarti D, Chen P, LaBella KA, Li J, Spring DJ, Zhao D, Wang YA*, DePinho RA. Synthetic Essentiality of Tryptophan 2,3-Dioxygenase 2 in APC-Mutated Colorectal Cancer. Cancer Discov. 2022 Jul 6;12(7):1702-1717. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-21-0680. PMID: 35537038; PMCID: PMC9262860.

Gulhati, P., Schalck, A., Jiang, S., Shang, X., Wu, CJ., Hou, P., Ruiz, SH., Soto, LS., Parra, E., Ying, H., Han, J., Dey, P., Li, J., Deng, P., Sei, E., Maeda, DY., Zebala, JA., Spring, DJ., Kim, M., Wang, H., Maitra, A., Moore, D., Clise-Dwyer, K., Wang, YA*., Navin, NE., DePinho, RA. Targeting T cell checkpoints 41BB and LAG3 and Myeloid cell CXCR1/2 results in anti-tumor immunity and durable response in pancreatic cancer. Nature Cancer 2022 Dec 30. PMID: 36585453

Eisenbarth, D and Wang YA. Glioblastoma hetergeneity at single cell resolution. Oncogene 2023, 42:2155-2165.