NCI/NOB
Bethesda, United States
I’m Herui Wang, PhD, research fellow from Neuro-Oncology Branch (NOB) of National Cancer Institute (NCI). I earned Bachelor degree in Biological Science from Fudan University in Shanghai, China in 2007 and received Ph.D. degree in Developmental Biology from Fudan University in 2013. The main research of my Ph.D. thesis included establishing large-scale mutagenesis in mouse models using the piggyBac transposon system and screening for novel genes responsible for congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT). Following graduation, I joined Dr. Zhengping Zhuang’s lab as a visiting fellow at Surgical Neurology Branch (SNB) of NINDS in December 2013, and later transferred to Neuro-oncology Branch (NOB) of NCI with Dr. Zhuang in April 2017.
My current research focuses on hypoxia signaling pathways in development and tumorigenesis and novel cancer therapeutic studies. I established an inducible tissue specific Vhl knockout animal model in hemangioblast-derived cells and proved that Vhl mutant hemangioblast cells are the tumor cell origin of human VHL retinal capillary hemangioblastoma. I also established the first transgenic mouse model with corresponding EPAS1 gain-of-function mutations as found in Pacak-Zhuang syndrome, which significantly expanded the understanding of the roles of HIF-2. I’m also interested in immunotherapy studies using preclinical syngeneic tumor models. We proved that pharmacological inhibition of PP2A with a clinically-relevant inhibitor LB-100 enhanced response to immune checkpoint blockade in preclinical colon carcinoma, melanoma, and glioma models. We are now trying to targeting metastatic and CNS tumors via mannan-BAM, TLR Ligands and anti-CD40 antibody.