Meet the Team
Current Members
Principal Investigator
Xiao-fan Wang
Donald and Elizabeth Cooke Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research
Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
Postdoctoral Training, 1992, Whitehead Inst. & MIT, Cambridge, MA
Ph.D Biological Chemistry, 1986, University of California, Los Angeles
B.S. Biochemistry, 1982, Wuhan University, China
xiao.fan.wang@duke.edu
Postdoctoral Fellows
Ph.D National Institute of Biological Sciences (NIBS), 2019, Beijing, China,
B.S. Nanjing Agriculture University, 2013, Nanjing, China
Lianmei Tan
lianmei.tan@duke.edu
Joined the Wang lab since 2020, Lianmei is originally from Chongqing, China.
Research interests:
“Cancer patients with T-cell infiltrated (“hot”) tumors show better survival rates. Unfortunately, many cancers are immune “cold”, which means fewer cancer-killing immune cells in the tumors. My research focuses on turning a “cold” tumor to an immunologically “hot” tumor and developing novel cancer therapeutic strategies.”
M.D Clinical Oncology, West China School of Clinical Medicine, 2014, China
M.S. and B.S. Clinical Medicine for 7-year program, West China School of Clinical Medicine, 2010, China
Tao Yin
tao.yin@duke.edu
Joined the Wang lab since 2018, Tao is originally from the beautiful Zhangjiajie City, China.
Research interests:
“My current project is to understand the new mechanism of how tumor evade immune surveillance in the context of neuro-immunologic interactions. We found two molecules, NGF and APP, are important to maintain a “cold” tumor microenvironment. Based on the mechanistic study, we have designed several novel treatment strategies for cancer immunotherapy. All these findings have highly translational values. Hopefully it can help a lot of cancer patients in the future.”
Awards and honors:
“My daughter said ‘I love my daddy’ when she was a toddler.”
Ph.D Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, 2022, North Carolina
B.S. Chemistry, Peking University, 2012, China
Kun Xiang
kun.xiang@duke.edu
Joined the Wang lab since 2022, Kun is originally from Changsha, China.
Research interests:
“My current project is to understand the cellular senescence in neurological systems and dementia. I am also interested in tumor microenvironment and memory T cells.”
Awards and honors:
IBIEM fellowship, 2018
Chinese government award for outstanding self-financed students abroad, 2019
Ph.D Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, 2022, North Carolina
B.S. Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 2017
Ergang Wang
ergang.wang@duke.edu
Joined the Wang lab since 2022, Ergang is originally from the beautiful Hangzhou City, China.
Research interests:
“The complicated tumor microenvironment involves the interactions between tumor cells and many other surrounding cell type. How the tumor cells crosstalk with the neuron systems especially intrigues me.”
Awards and honors:
Graduated with Summa Cum Laude, 2017, UCLA
Postdoc Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, 2023, Hangzhou China
Postdoc Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (SIBCB), 2021, Shanghai, China
Ph.D Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (SIBCB), 2019, Shanghai, China
B.S. Qingdao University, 2012, Qingdao, China
Chengsong Yan
chengsong.yan@duke.edu
Joined the Wang lab since 2023, Chengsong is originally from Linyi, China.
Research interests:
I am quite interested in cancer immunology, especially how T cell function is compromised in the tumor microenvironment. I have studied cholesterol metabolism in tumor infiltration T cells and found that tumor infiltrating T cells were under cholesterol deficiency. Now I am focusing on finding the regulators for T cell infiltration in tumor microenvironment.
PhD Students
M.S. Marine Biology, Sun Yat-sen University, 2017, China
B.S. Biological Science, Sun Yat-sen University, 2014, China
Yaosi Liang
yaosi.liang@duke.edu
Joined the Wang lab since 2019, Yaosi is originally from Maoming, China.
Research interests:
“The role of BCAT1 and SLC6A14/15 in cellular senescence and aging.”
Bryan Lim
bryan.lim@duke.edu
Bryan joined Dr. Qi-jing Li’s lab in 2019 and joined the Wang lab after Dr. Li’s move to Singapore in 2022. Bryan is a Singapore native.
Research interests:
“I study how intra-tumoral T cells develop and their anti-metastatic role. Specifically, I am interested in how such T cells can be harnessed in combinatorial immunotherapy.”
Awards and honors:
Frontiers in Cancer Science Conference (FCS 2022) - 3rd prize in poster presentation
NUS Development Grant
Paul and Lauren Ghaffari Graduate Fellowship
Chancellor’s Scholarship
B.S. Life Sciences, National University of Singapore, 2018
Zhehao Ma
zhehao.ma@duke.edu
Joined the Wang lab since 2022, Zhehao is originally from Liaoning, China.
Research interests:
“The potential function of Amyloid precursor protein in pancreatic cancer.”
B.S. Zhejiang University 2016-2020, China