Wang Lab
Ying Wang, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Member, Center for Discovery and Innovation
Dr. Wang is a Research Assistant Member at the Center for Discovery and Innovation. Dr. Wang received her Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and completed postdoctoral training at Temple University, where she investigated mechanisms of neurological disorders before transitioning into T cell immunology.
Dr. Wang’s current research focuses on how calcium signals orchestrate with epigenetic regulation to control T cell function in immune-mediated diseases and cancer. Specifically, her work has centered to identify the role of distinct calcium channels in regulating the molecular programs that govern T cell differentiation trajectory, thereby determining long-term functional durability in the context of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and CAR-T cell therapy.
Dr. Wang identified Id3, a transcriptional regulator, coordinated gene programs that sustain progenitor-like alloreactive T cells and drive graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in peripheral tissues, opening new opportunities to selectively reduce tissue-specific GVHD without causing systemic adverse effects. Her recent research demonstrated that (accepted in Cellular & Molecular Immunology) defines a non-canonical EZH2 mechanism that suppresses Ca²⁺ signaling in alloreactive T cells. Targeting this the EZH2-Ca²⁺ axis offers a dual-pronged approach for mitigating GVHD and enhancing CAR-T cell functionality. Building on these studies, Dr. Wang has recently identified a mitochondrial calcium channel MCU as a central regulator of T cell stemness and pathogenicity in T cell alloimmunity, providing a new therapeutic strategy to selectively eliminate pathogenic T cell alloreactions while preserving protective immunity.
Dr. Wang’s long-term goal is to translate mechanistic insights into clinically actionable strategies to improve outcomes of allo-HSCT as well as T cell-mediated immunotherapies and diseases.
Selected Publications
- Ying Wang, Shan He, Gennaro Calendo, Tien Bui, Yuanyuan Tian, Che Young Lee, Yan Zhou, Xin Zhao, Ciril Abraham, Wenbin Mo, Mimi Chen, Ruqayyah Sanders-Braggs, Jozef Madzo, Jean-Pierre Issa, Elizabeth O. Hexner, David L. Wiest, Ran Reshef, Hai-Hui Xue and Yi Zhang. Tissue-infiltrating alloreactive T cells require Id3 to deflect PD-1–mediated immune suppression during GVHD. Blood. 2024.
- Ying Wang,* Qingrong Huang,* Yan Zhou, Robert Hooper, Ruqayyah Sanders-Braggs, Mimi Chen, Yuanyuan Tian, Tatiana Kent, Richard Pomerantz, Gennaro Clando, Woonbok Chung, Jean-Pierre J. Issa, Jonathan Soboloff, and Yi Zhang. EZH2 and intracellular Ca2+signals interdependently coordinate alloreactive and CAR T cell responses. Blood, 2024.
*equally contributed
- Ying Wang, Tien Bui, Yi Zhang, The pleiotropic roles of EZH2 in T‐cell immunity and immunotherapy. International Journal of Hematology, 2022.
- Shan He, Yongnian Liu, Lijun Meng, Hongxing Sun, Ying Wang, Yun Ji , Janaki Purushe, Pan Chen,Changhong Li, Jozef Madzo, Jean-Pierre Issa, Jonathan Soboloff, Ran Reshef, Bethany Moore, Luca Gattinoni & Yi Zhang. Ezh2 phosphorylation state determines its capacity to maintain CD8+ T memory precursors for antitumor immunity. Nature Communications, 2017.
- Ying Wang, Maryline Santerre, Italo Tempera , Kayla Martin, Ruma Mukerjee, Bassel E. Sawaya. HIV-1 Vpr disrupts mitochondria axonal transport and accelerates neuronal aging. Neuropharmacology, 2017.