Wang receives award from Society for Investigative Dermatology

Xiao-Jing Wang, director of CU’s head and neck cancer research program at the School of Medicine, has received the William Montagna Lecture Award from the Society for Investigative Dermatology. Established in 1975, this award honors one individual annually among investigators who has made significant contributions to research in skin biology.

Wang’s laboratory studies cancer, wound healing, inflammatory diseases and development in the skin and oral cavity. Her laboratory has developed many genetically engineered mouse models for biological studies and provided resources for the research community to use these models mimicking human diseases and testing therapeutic interventions. She works closely with physicians leading the efforts to develop a world-class translational research program.

A professor in the Department of Pathology, Wang also has joint appointments in the departments of Otolaryngology, Dermatology and Craniofacial Biology. She is co-project leader of the Lung, Head and Neck Cancer Program at the CU Cancer Center. And, she currently is the John S. Gates Endowed Chair of Cancer Stem Cell Biology.

Colleague Dennis Roop, professor of dermatology and director of the Gates Stem Cell Center, received the William Montagna Lecture Award more than 20 years ago, and he was on hand as Wang was honored earlier this summer.