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G. Greg Wang

Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
3 Genome Court, Box 103057, Durham, NC 27710
MSRB3, 3 Genome Court, Durham, NC 27710

Overview


Dr. Greg Wang is Full Professor at Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Department of Pathology (adjunct) and Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University. He received his Ph.D. degree from University of California, San Diego, followed by a postdoctoral training with Dr. C David Allis at Rockefeller University. Before joining Duke in 2023, he has been a full-time faculty member since 2011 at Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. Dr. Wang’s research programs broadly focus on mechanistic understandings of how chemical modifications of chromatin (including DNA methylation and histone modifications) regulate gene expression and cell fate determination during development, and how their deregulations lead to human diseases, notably cancer. His laboratory recently identified and characterized novel proteins that specifically bind to histone lysine methylation. These histone modification regulators are crucially involved in gene and genome regulation, development, immunity, and/or cancerous transformation. Importantly, discovery of small-molecule inhibitors to target chromatin modulators has become an area of intensive investigation and holds great promise for therapies. Dr. Wang’s research excellence and expertise in the broad fields of chromatin biology and cancer epigenetics have earned him grant funding of NIH and private foundations such as an American Cancer Society Research Scholar, an American Society of Hematology Scholar in basic science, a Janet Rowley Medical Research award from Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research, and a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar. Greg Wang also receives the recognitions from the institute such as the Philip and Ruth Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement (2019, UNC) and the Yang Family Biomedicine Scholar (2020, UNC), as well as the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Young Investigator Award (2021).  One of Dr. Wang’s research goals is to yield potential drug candidates with preclinical cancer models, which shall pave a way for translating new therapeutic approaches in future.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology · 2024 - Present Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, Basic Science Departments
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute · 2023 - Present Duke Cancer Institute, Institutes and Centers

Recent Publications


EZH2 PROTACs target EZH2- and FOXM1-associated oncogenic nodes, suppressing breast cancer cell growth.

Journal Article Oncogene · August 2024 Breast cancer (BC) remains the second leading cause of cancer-related mortalities in women. Resistance to hormone therapies such as tamoxifen, an estrogen receptor (ER) inhibitor, is a major hurdle in the treatment of BC. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) ... Full text Link to item Cite

Structural basis for the H2AK119ub1-specific DNMT3A-nucleosome interaction.

Journal Article Nat Commun · July 23, 2024 Isoform 1 of DNA methyltransferase DNMT3A (DNMT3A1) specifically recognizes nucleosome monoubiquitylated at histone H2A lysine-119 (H2AK119ub1) for establishment of DNA methylation. Mis-regulation of this process may cause aberrant DNA methylation and path ... Full text Link to item Cite

TAF2, within the TFIID complex, regulates the expression of a subset of protein-coding genes.

Journal Article Cell Death Discov · May 21, 2024 TFIID, one of the general transcription factor (GTF), regulates transcriptional initiation of protein-coding genes through direct binding to promoter elements and subsequent recruitment of other GTFs and RNA polymerase II. Although generally required for m ... Full text Link to item Cite
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Recent Grants


The role for phase separation in oncogenesis and aberrant chromatin looping formation

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Cancer Institute · 2023 - 2027

Discovery of first-in-class WDR5 PROTACS as a novel therapeutic strategy for MLL-rearranged leukemias

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · 2023 - 2027

Dissecting and targeting canonical and non-canonical oncogenic functions of EZH2 in caner

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Cancer Institute · 2023 - 2026

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Education, Training & Certifications


University of California, San Diego · 2006 Ph.D.

External Links


www.gregwanglab.com