Congratulations to Greg Wang and Qi Zhang, associate professors of biochemistry and biophysics who received tenure as a UNC faculty effective June 1, 2018.
Dr. Wang received his PhD from University of California, San Diego in 2006 and completed his postdoctoral studies at Rockefeller University with Dr. C. David Allis in 2011. In 2012, Dr. Wang joined UNC as an assistant professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics with a joint appointment in the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Research in his lab focuses on mechanistic understandings of how chemical modifications of chromatin define distinct patterns of mammalian genomes, control gene expression, and regulate cell proliferation versus differentiation during development, and how their deregulations lead to human disease such as cancer, developmental disorders, and aging.
At UNC, Dr. Wang has assembled a very active lab of young postdoctoral scientists along with a steady influx of undergraduate researchers and rotating graduate students training with his group. He’s received funding from the NIH, American Cancer Society, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, V Foundation, Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research, American Society of Hematology, DoD, Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation, Gilead Sciences Research Scholars Program, Concern Foundation for Cancer Research, WES (When Everyone Survives Foundation) Leukemia Research Foundation, and the University Cancer Research Fund (UCRF) from the state of NCto sustain his past and current research programs. Dr. Wang also is active in organizing local chromatin and epigenetic events such as the NC State Abcam-sponsored Symposium in Epigenetics (2015 and 2018) and Annual Linberger Symposium in Cancer Research (2014 and 2019). Learn more about the Wang labat https://www.gregwanglab.com/
Dr. Zhang received his PhD from the University of Michigan and completed his postdoctoral studies with Juli Feigon at University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Zhang joined UNC near the end of 2011 as an assistant professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Research in his lab focuses on the structure and function of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), elucidating fundamental mechanisms of ncRNAs, depicting how intrinsic physicochemical properties of ncRNAs encode their biological functions and how ncRNA dysfunctions contribute to human disease. His lab further applies this knowledge in rational design of RNA-based devices and RNA-targeted therapeutics to interfere with specific ncRNA regulatory pathways.
Since coming to UNC, Dr. Zhang has assembled a very active lab of young scientists along with a steady influx of undergraduate researchers and rotating graduate students training with his group. He’s received funding from National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), American Heart Association (AHA), and March of Dimes Foundation to further his studies. Learn more about Qi Zhang at http://www.unc.edu/~zhangqi