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Fan Wang

Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurobiology
Neurobiology
Box 3209, Durham, NC 27710
Bryan Research Building, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


My lab studies neural circuit basis of sensory perception. 
Specifically we are interested in determining neural circuits underlying (1) active touch sensation including tactile processing stream and motor control of touch sensors on the face; (2) pain sensation including both sensory-discriminative and affective aspects of pain; and (3) general anesthesia including the active pain-suppression process. We use a combination of genetic, viral, electrophysiology, and in vivo imaging (in free-moving animals) techniques to study these questions.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurobiology · 2021 - Present Neurobiology, Basic Science Departments
Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences · 2008 - Present Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, University Institutes and Centers
Affiliate of the Duke Regeneration Center · 2021 - Present Duke Regeneration Center, Basic Science Departments

In the News


Published February 10, 2021
Duke Celebrates Women and Girls in Science Day
Published May 18, 2020
Neurobiologist Finds Potent Pain-Suppression Center in the Brain
Published April 23, 2020
Price, Kornbluth and Six Senior Faculty Join American Academy of Arts & Sciences

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Recent Publications


General anesthesia-activated neurons in the central amygdala mediate antinociception: Distinct roles in acute versus chronic phases of nerve injury.

Journal Article Anesthesiology · May 7, 2025 BACKGROUND: General anesthesia (GA), such as isoflurane, induces analgesia (loss of pain) and loss of consciousness through mechanisms that are not fully understood. A distinct population of GABAergic neurons has been recently identified in the central amy ... Full text Link to item Cite

PE-GCL: Advancing pesticide ecotoxicity prediction with graph contrastive learning.

Journal Article J Hazard Mater · April 5, 2025 Ecotoxicity assessments, which rely on animal testing, face serious challenges, including high costs and ethical concerns. Computational toxicology presents a promising alternative; nevertheless, existing predictive models encounter difficulties such as li ... Full text Link to item Cite

Geometric deep learning with adaptive full-band spatial diffusion for accurate, efficient, and robust cortical parcellation.

Journal Article Med Image Anal · April 2025 Cortical parcellation delineates the cerebral cortex into distinct regions according to their distinctiveness in anatomy and/or function, which is a fundamental preprocess in brain cortex analysis and can influence the accuracy and specificity of subsequen ... Full text Link to item Cite
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Recent Grants


Medical Scientist Training Program

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1997 - 2022

Markerless Tracking of 3D Posture to Reveal the Sensory Origins of Body Schema

FellowshipPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2020 - 2020

Reverse engineering the brain stem circuits that govern exploratory behavior

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of California - San Diego · 2020 - 2020

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Education, Training & Certifications


Columbia University · 1998 Ph.D.