Wen Tang, Ph.D
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology
The Center for RNA Biology
The Ohio State University
Education:
PhD, University of Kansas Medical Center, Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Howard Hughes Medical Institute with Dr. Peter Baumann
Postdoc, University of Massachusetts Medical School and Howard Hughes Medical Institute with Dr. Craig C. Mello
Biography:
Wen started his undergraduate in Wuhan University, one of the most historic universities in China. After obtaining his bachelor degree, Wen moved from central China to central United States. He pursued his graduate work under the supervision of Dr. Peter Baumann at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and KU Medical Center. With the support from Peter and other brilliant scientists, he enjoyed exploring many aspects of chromosome biology. His research focused on the chromosome cap—telomere, and the enzyme replenishing telomere—telomerase. He discovered and characterized protein factors that are required for telomere maintenance and telomerase RNA biogenesis.
Drawing on his interest in telomerase RNA, Wen shifted his research focuses onto small noncoding RNAs during his postdoctoral training. Wen joined the laboratory of Dr. Craig Mello, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2006 for his discovery of RNA interference with Dr. Andrew Fire. Craig’s laboratory is located at the newly founded RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Medical School, which hosts a high concentration of eminent RNA biologists. He has been fortunate to interact and collaborate with many bright and thoughtful minds, which greatly extended his research interests and expertise. His work has focused on understanding how various types of small non-coding RNAs are made and how they regulate gene expression in the context of normal development and diseases.
Wen joined the Ohio State University as an independent investigator in 2019 where he continues his research on non-coding RNAs and begins to explore the fascinating condensate biology. He enjoys working closely with students and research fellows. For more details on Wen’ research, visit Tang lab.
Wen received a Scholar-in-Training Award from the American Association for Cancer Research and RNA Travel Fellowship Award from the RNA Society. He was honored with the Fellowship Award from Hope Funds for Cancer Research, and received the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) and Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (R35).