Guangshun Wang, PhD
Guangshun Wang, PhD, is a professor in the UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. His research focuses on innate immune antimicrobial peptides and their potential application as novel antimicrobials to combat drug-resistant pathogens.
To promote research and education, his lab constructed and has been updating and expanding the Antimicrobial Peptide Database for two decades. This unique and comprehensive tool laid the foundation for his lab to decipher nature’s design principles of antimicrobial peptides and develop the database filtering technology for designing potent, selective and stable peptides with demonstrated efficacy in animal models.
As a complementary approach, the lab also utilizes the structure-based approach in peptide design. Using triple-resonance NMR spectroscopy, the lab has determined the 3D structure of human cathelicidin LL-37.
Dr. Wang has published more than 135 peer-reviewed articles, reviews and chapters. He has edited special issues and books on antimicrobial peptides. In 2023, he and colleagues organized the international symposium Antimicrobial Peptides: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow with registered attendees from 28 countries.
- PhD: Simon Fraser University, 1997.
- Postdoctoral fellowship: Florida State University, 1997-99.
- Postdoctoral fellowship: National Institutes of Health, 1999-02.
- Deciphering the design principles of natural antimicrobial peptides via a big data approach.
- Elucidating the structure-activity relationship of antimicrobial peptides.
- Designing potent, selective and stable antimicrobials against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
- Predicting novel antimicrobial peptides by machine learning in collaboration with other labs.
- Excellence in postdoctoral mentoring, UNMC, 2019.
- International Staph Meeting Travel Award, 2016.
- New Investigator Award, UNMC, 2011.
- Most Promising New Invention Award, 2008.
- Nebraska First Award, Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, 2005.
- American Chemical Society
- American Association of the Advancement of Science