Wang named to advisory board

Wang

Xiao-Jing Wang, professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Colorado Denver and the director of the head, neck and squamous cell carcinomas research program at CU Denver, was one of four new members appointed to the Advisory Board of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).

The council comprises scientific and lay members who have expertise in the mission areas of the institute. Council members provide advice to the institute on broad policy issues, and make recommendations on research proposals. The NIAMS is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Wang has created critical resources for evaluating the mechanisms and efficacy of existing clinical trials for the prevention and treatment of head and neck cancer, the sixth most common cancer type worldwide. Her laboratory developed the first genetically engineered mouse model that mimics human head and neck cancers at both genetic and clinical levels. She published a breakthrough paper that identified a single gene deletion as the cause of 80 percent of mouse head and neck cancer tumors. This research is likely to lead to a targeted treatment for the disease in humans.

The mission of the NIAMS, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health, is to support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases; the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research; and the dissemination of information on research progress in these diseases.