Yanling Wang, MD, PhD

Associate Professor , Department of Neurological Sciences
Yanling Wang, MD, PhD
Rush Medical College
Associate Professor , Department of Neurological Sciences

Human Cell Modeling Group, Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center

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  • Biography

    Wang, MD, PhD, leads the Human Cell Modeling Group (HCMG) at Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center. HCMG is a team of exceptionally talented scientists whose goal is to develop novel treatments to slow, stop or even prevent Alzheimer's disease. To this end, Wang’s team uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and direct lineage conversion to generate disease-relevant brain cells from RADC cohort participants. This “disease-in-a-dish” approach allows them to investigate disease phenotypes at molecular, cellular and functional levels. To identify causal driver genes and genetic variants of AD, Wang’s team employs CRISPR/Cas9 genetic screening and iPSC genome engineering along with a battery of assays to measure AD phenotype in vitro. Her team is implementing those technologies in iPSC-derived neurons, astrocytes and microglia to systematically dissect the function of disease-associated genes and risk variants in AD pathogenesis.

    Wang also oversee the Rush Omics Core. The Core laboratory is equipped with state-of-art instruments including the Illumina NovaSeq 6000, Chemagic 360, Zephyr NGS Workstation, Fragment Analyzer, iSeq and a 10x Genomics Chromium System. Wang’s team have developed an automated next-generation sequencing platform to carry out RNAseq on postmortem brain tissue and cultured cells at both population and single-cell levels. Her team is currently developing novel sequencing approaches to identify biomarkers and molecular signatures of AD and related disorders.

    Prior to Rush, Wang led a Stem Cell Biology team at Allen Institute for Brain Science. She carried out her Postdoc research on developmental biology and Neuroscience at University of California, San Francisco and earned her MD, PhD in Pediatric Neurology at Shandong University, China.

    Wang’s team is recruiting highly motivated postdocs, staff scientists and research associates, ideally with experience in next generation sequencing, or genome engineering or iPSC technology. Please contact her for more information.