Primary Appointment

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Dr. Wong's lab is interested in the mechanisms of pathogenesis of diseases induced by retroviruses and defective genes. The lab's emphasis is on understanding the molecular and pathological mechanisms of how retroviruses and defective genes induce neuroimmunodegenerative diseases and cancer using animal models, including transgenic and gene knockout mice. Dr. Wong is particularly interested in oxidative stress, endoplastic reticulum stress (due to accumulation of misfolded proteins), and the signaling pathways of apoptosis and cell proliferation in these systems. The Wong lab has shown that oxidative stress induced by murine retroviruses can be restored by antioxidants and anti-inflammatory drugs, thus preventing virus-induced neurodegeneration and immunodeficiency.  In recent years, Wong's research has also been focusing on neural stem cells (NSCs). One of the major recent breakthroughs in his research involves studies of the human childhood genetic disease called ataxia telangiectasia (A-T). This research showed that defects in the Atm gene impairs self-renewal and proliferation of neural stem cells through an oxidative stress-mediated pathway. Using a treatment targeting this pathway in NSCs, the lab was able to correct the dysregulated pathway, restoring neuronal loss and correcting the neural motor deficits in A-T mice. Dr. Wong is also interested in the association between human endogenous retrovirus type K (HERV-K) and breast cancer. Studies are underway to investigate whether the HERV-K retroviruses act as a trigger or as an accomplice of human breast cancer, and in particular, whether expression of HERV-K is responsible for breast cancer progression and metastasis.

Academic Appointments

Last updated: 2/27/2013