Ying Wang, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

I am an experimental biophysical chemist. My expertise lies in phase transitions in protein and nucleic acid solutions. Protein and nucleic acid solutions can undergo various types of phase changes such as aggregation, gelation, crystallization and liquid-liquid phase separation. These biological condensation phenomena are important in many fields. Protein condensation in humans causes various diseases such as sickle cell disease, cataracts and cryoglobulinemia.In the pharmaceutical industry, monoclonal antibodies have become an increasingly important class of drugs. The solubility or colloidal stability of antibodies is crucial for drug development and formulation. My research in the past research focused on the role of protein phase transitions in diseases and pharmaceutical formulations. Specifically, I studied the phase behavior of eye lens proteins in connection with lens transparency and the loss of this transparency in cataract disease; the pathological crystallization of immunoglobulins in the cryoglobulinemia disease; the role of serum albumin in preventing antibody condensation. In collaboration with scientists in Amgen Inc., I have developed an experimental method and a theoretical model to quantify the colloidal stability of pharmaceutical antibodies.In my research in the Roche postdoc fellowship program, I have worked on the micelle-like assembly of lipidated peptides that are used to treat type-II diabetes.