This profile is part of a series to highlight the 16 researchers and one community member who will be honored at an April 21 ceremony. The recipients include the 2013 Scientist Laureate, six New Investigators, eight Distinguished Scientists, two Research Leadership awardees, and a Community Service to Research honoree.
- Name: Cheng Wang, Ph.D.
- Title: Assistant professor, obstetrics and gynecology
- Joined UNMC: 2004
- Hometown: Tianshui, Gansu province, China
Describe your research briefly in layman’s terms.
The ovary provides not only eggs for reproduction but also female hormones for normal physiological action. Under certain circumstances, pathological processes also take place in the mammalian ovary, causing infertility, sub-fertility or diseases such as ovarian cancer. Research in my laboratory focuses on the identification of the intra-ovary signals and molecules that contribute to the physiological and pathological changes in the ovary, so that novel diagnostic or therapeutic methods can be developed to improve women’s health.
How does your research contribute to science and/or health care?
Ovarian dysfunction causes most infertility in women. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological cancer in women. Research in our laboratory puts a new insight into our understanding of the regulation of ovarian physiology and pathology. Studies in my laboratory may discover new biomarkers for early diagnosis of ovarian cancer and may develop new drugs for improving the treatment of ovarian cancer.
What is the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you, professional or personal?
“I believe that you will be successful in the future because you are a responsible young man.” This is the comment from Dr. Kazuyoshi K. Taya, one of my Ph.D. supervisors. I didn’t know if I was really a responsible young man then, but I do know that his comment has been encouraging me to be a responsible man from then on.
List three things few people know about you.
- I was born in a quiet but beautiful small village in northwest China.
- I am a dad to two energetic boys.
- I like watching movies and documentaries with my family in my spare time.