Surgery Websites
Vascular & Endovascular Surgery »  Meet the Team »  Basic Scientists »  Rong Wang, Ph.D.
Rong Wang, Ph.D.

Rong Wang, Ph.D.

  • Professor of Surgery
  • Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery
  • Mildred V. Strouss Endowed Chair in Vascular Surgery
  • Director, Laboratory for Accelerated Vascular Research

Contact Information

513 Parnassus Avenue, HSW 1618
San Francisco, CA 94143-0507
Phone: (415) 476-6820
rong.wang@ucsf.edu
Open Popup

Education

  • 1980-84, Sichuan University, B.S., Biology
  • 1984-88, Graduate School of Chinese Science and Technology University, Inst. of Genetics, M.S. candidate, Mammalian Genetics
  • 1988-93, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Ph.D., Biology (Angiogenesis)

Fellowships

  • 1994-99, University of California, San Francisco, Postdoctoral Fellow, Cancer Biology

Research Interests

  • Angiogenesis Inhibitors
  • Arteriogenesis
  • Arteriovenous Malformations
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular
  • Collateral Vessel Formation
  • Developmental Biology
  • Developmental Growth
  • Embryonic Development
  • EphrinB2
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Neovascularization
  • Notch Pathway
  • Physiologic, Ischemia
  • Stem Cells
  • Vascular Development
  • Vascular Physiology

Website Links

Biography

Rong Wang, Ph.D. is Professor of Surgery and Director of the Wang Lab. Previously, Dr. Wang had the distinction of being a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Michael Bishop, MD, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Chancellor of UCSF. Dr. Wang's team is engaged in state-of-the-art research involving key proteins necessary for blood vessel growth (angiogenesis) and arterial growth (arteriogenesis). They have found that the Notch 4 protein can cause dramatic blood vessel enlargement in adult animals and that the protein called focal adhesion kinase is essential for maintaining existing blood vessel structure.  The ability to encourage the growth of blood vessels can increase healing in traumatic wounds, promote recovery from strokes and heart attacks, or generate the growth of new pathways around blocked arteries in the lower limbs to reduce the potential of gangrene and possible amputation.

Research & Funding

Data provided by UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI
  • Molecular Pathogenesis of Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia
    Sponsor:
    Sponsor ID:
    Funding Period:
    Feb 2020
    -
    Jan 2025
    Principal Investigator
  • Identifying Molecular Regulators of Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia In a Novel Mouse Model
    Sponsor:
    Sponsor ID:
    Funding Period:
    Jul 2019
    -
    Jun 2022
    Principal Investigator
  • Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapy for Critical Lim Ischemia
    Sponsor:
    Sponsor ID:
    Funding Period:
    Jul 2018
    -
    Jun 2021
    Principal Investigator
  • RBPJ and EphrinB2 as Molecular Targets to Treat Brain Arteriovenous Malformation in Notch4-Induced Mouse Models
    Sponsor:
    Sponsor ID:
    Funding Period:
    Sep 2016
    -
    Sep 2020
    Principal Investigator
  • Molecular Pathogenesis of Brain Arteriovenous Malformation
    Sponsor:
    Sponsor ID:
    Funding Period:
    Aug 2010
    -
    Sep 2013
    Principal Investigator
  • Notch Signaling in Arterial-Venous Specification
    Sponsor:
    Sponsor ID:
    Funding Period:
    Apr 2005
    -
    Mar 2010
    Principal Investigator

Publications

MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM A TOTAL OF 43
Data provided by UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI
  1. Prather BL, Ji S, Zhao Y, Shajan FJ, Zhao M, Buuh ZY, Maloney R, Zhang R, Cohen C, Wang RE. Fluorine-thiol displacement probes for acetaminophen's hepatotoxicity. Acta Pharm Sin B. 2023 Jan; 13(1):204-212. View in PubMed
  2. Kang J, Lewis TR, Gardner A, Andrade RB, Wang RE. Semi-syntheses and interrogation of indole-substituted Aspidosperma terpenoid alkaloids. Org Biomol Chem. 2022 05 18; 20(19):3988-3997. View in PubMed
  3. Islam MS, Junod SL, Zhang S, Buuh ZY, Guan Y, Zhao M, Kaneria KH, Kafley P, Cohen C, Maloney R, Lyu Z, Voelz VA, Yang W, Wang RE. Unprotected peptide macrocyclization and stapling via a fluorine-thiol displacement reaction. Nat Commun. 2022 01 17; 13(1):350. View in PubMed
  4. Lyu Z, Zhao Y, Buuh ZY, Gorman N, Goldman AR, Islam MS, Tang HY, Wang RE. Steric-Free Bioorthogonal Labeling of Acetylation Substrates Based on a Fluorine-Thiol Displacement Reaction. J Am Chem Soc. 2021 Jan 12. View in PubMed
  5. Maloney R, Buuh ZY, Zhao Y, Wang RE. Site-specific antibody fragment conjugates for targeted imaging. Methods Enzymol. 2020; 638:295-320. View in PubMed
  6. View All Publications

In the News

  • Rong Wang, Ph.D. to Speak at American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) 2016

    UCSF Wang Lab - February 23, 2016
    ASIP
    Rong Wang, Ph.D., Professor of Surgery and Director of the Wang Lab, has been invited to speak at the The American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) 2016 symposium on the topic of "Angiogenesis in Organ Development and Function." The ASIP 2016 Annual Meeting will be held April 2-6, 2016, in conjunction with Experimental Biology 2016 at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA. The Program Committee has assembled a vibrant scientific program encompassing diverse topics relevant [...]

  • Rong Wang, Ph.D. Gives Plenary Speech at 11th HHT International Scientific & Medical Conference

    UCSF Wang Lab - July 01, 2015
    Cure Hhtjpg
    Rong Wang, Ph.D., Professor of Surgery and Director of the Wang Lab, was invited to give a plenary speech at the 11th HHT International Scientific & Medical Conference in Captiva Island, Florida on June 11-14, 2015. She spoke about Notch4-mediated formation of arteriovenous malformation, discussing how changes in the signaling pathway can cause both the progression and regression of the disease. The 2015 meeting brought together the world's leading HHT experts in both basic research as [...]

  • Rong Wang Delivers Commencement Address at San Francisco State University

    Wang Lab - July 01, 2014
    Rong Wang, Ph.D., Professor of Surgery and Mildred V. Strouss Endowed Chair in Vascular Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), gave the keynote address at the 2014 commencement ceremony at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Dr. Wang spoke movingly about her childhood, living through China's Cultural Revolution, as well as the scientific and intellectual challenges in her current field of study.  She also discussed the hardships she faced growing up in China as a [...]

  • Gene is Likely Cause of Stroke-Inducing Vascular Malformations

    Wang Lab - September 02, 2008
    "UCSF scientists have discovered that a gene controlling whether blood vessels differentiate into arteries or veins during embryonic development is linked to a vascular disorder in the brain that causes stroke. The UCSF studies were done in mice, and the new findings are the first to provide information on both the progression and regression of this particular brain disorder, known as BAVM, and to provide molecular clues into the disease, which is not well-understood and chiefly affects young [...]

  • Wang lab researchers develop powerful mouse model to study brain arteriovenous malformations

    Wang Lab - August 05, 2008
    Wang lab researchers discovered that activation of Notch signaling in the endothelium during brain development causes brain arteriovenous malformations (BAVMs) in mice.  These mice may provide a powerful new tool in which to study BAVMs, which can cause devastating stroke in young people.  This report was published in the August 5 issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

  • Dr. Rong Wang Invited Speaker at Gordon Research Conference

    Wang Lab - August 03, 2008
    Rong Wang, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the Laboratory for Accelerated Vascular Research, spoke at the Gordon Research Conference on Endothelial Cell Phenotypes in Health & Disease in Biddeford, Maine.  Dr. Wang's talk was entitled "Cell-Cell Signaling in Endothelium and Arterial Venous Hierarchy".

 

 
Site Directory
    X