Dr. Wang received his B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University in 1986 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University in 1992. Dr. Wang did his postdoctoral training in drug design at the National Cancer Institute, NIH between 1992-1996. Dr. Wang was Assistant Professor at Georgetown University from 1996-2000 and Associate Professor from 2000-2001. Dr. Wang joined the faculty at the University of Michigan Medical School as a tenured Associate Professor in 2001 and was promoted to Professor in 2006. Dr. Wang was named the Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor in Medicine in 2007.

Dr. Wang serves as the Co-Director of the Molecular Therapeutics Program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Wang is the Principal Investigator of a National Cooperative Drug Discovery Group grant from the National Cancer Institute, NIH, to the University of Michigan and Georgetown University.

Dr. Wang has published more than 150+ papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and 100+ meeting abstracts, and is an inventor on more than 20 international and US patents and patent applications.

In addition to his academic role, Dr Wang is a co-founder of Ascenta Therapeutics, which was established in 2003 and focuses on the development of molecularly targeted small-molecule anticancer drugs.

Wang Laboratories
We have a computational laboratory located in the Palmer Commons Building (Room 2049), and the Chemistry and Biology Laboratories located in the Cancer Center Building (Labs 3110, 3111, 3120, 3130, 3131).  Our laboratories consist of faculty members, research specialists, postdoctoral fellows, research associates and graduate students, with expertise in computational drug design and informatics, synthetic and medicinal chemistry, biochemistry and protein chemistry, cell biology and in vivo tumor biology. In addition, we have extensive collaborations with structural biologists, cell biologists, pharmacologists and clinical investigators at the University of Michigan and in other institutions.

Over the years, the Wang lab has developed a number of computational methods and tools for drug design, which include the PDBbind database, X-Score and M-Score scoring methods, and the Comprehensive Herbal Medicine Information System for Cancer, among others.

A small-molecule inhibitor which targets Bcl-2/Bcl-xL/Mcl-1 discovered in Dr. Wang’s laboratory is currently in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of solid and non-solid human cancer. Several lead compounds targeting MDM2-p53 interaction, XIAP and other IAP proteins and Bcl-2/Bcl-xL/Mcl-1 proteins are in advanced preclinical development.

Shaomeng Wang, Ph.D.
Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor in Medicine
Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry
Co-Director, Molecular Therapeutics Program
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of Michigan

1500 E. Medical Center Dr.
CCGC/3215
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0934

(734) 615-0362 (phone)
(858) 361-5348 (cell phone)
(734) 647-9647 (Fax)
(734) 615-3969 (Karen Kreutzer-Assistant)
Email: shaomeng@umich.edu
Lab website: http://sw16.im.med.umich.edu

Current Research Projects

1. Design, synthesis, characterization and development of molecularly targeted novel small molecule drugs for the treatment of human cancer with a focus on apoptosis pathway targets and protein-protein interactions (e.g. MDM2-p53, Bcl2-Bim, IAP proteins/caspases).

2. Design, synthesis and characterization and development of novel small-molecule ligands to target G-protein coupled receptors with a focus on the dopamine receptors.

3. Development and application of new computational and informatics methods and tools for drug design and discovery.