Yong-Xu Wang, PhD
Associate Professor, Program in Molecular Medicine
Dr. Wang received his undergraduate degree in 1989 from Peking University in China and earned his PhD ten years later from the University of Iowa.
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Salk Institute from 1999 to 2004.
Joined the Program in Gene Function and Expression at UMass Chan Medical School as an Assistant Professor in 2005.
Brown fat development and browning of white fat
Brown fat and white fat have opposite function-energy expenditure and energy storage, respectively. White fat displays considerable plasticity of switching to brown-like adipocytes under proper stimuli. Brown and brown-like adipocytes are present in adult humans and have become a potential drug discovery target for obesity and associated metabolic diseases.
Our research investigates cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling brown fat fate determination and maintenance. We're interested in whether these mechanisms can convert white adipocytes into brown-like adipocytes. We particularly focus on transcriptional control, epigenetics, non-coding RNAs, and signaling molecules. Our lab utilizes an array of tools such as knockout and transgenic mice, deep sequencing, and CRISPR-mediated genome editing in our study.
Rotation projects and postdoctoral positions are available