As a native Memphian, Christina Wang has always been familiar with St. Jude. Through her research and scientific interests, she has found a way to come back to her hometown. The passion for science and for bettering the lives of pediatric cancer patients rooted in the St. Jude mission motivated Wang to become a part of this community.
Wang earned her bachelor’s degree in medicine, health and society in 2019 from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. She spent a year as an NIH PREP Scholar at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Wang's research interests include investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive cancer cell signaling pathways in pediatric cancers.
She currently works in the lab of Andrew Kodani, PhD, in the Center for Pediatric Neurological Disease Research, a Division of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. There she studies how human mutations identify essential building blocks for brain development.
“I am thrilled to learn from and work alongside incredible scientists and physicians from around the world,” she says. “Observing the bench-to-bedside research at St. Jude motivates me and is a strong reminder that small steps of progress can lead to big discoveries that will ultimately better the lives of our pediatric patients.”
Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee
Publications
Guarnaccia AD, Rose KL, Wang J, Zhao B, Popay TM, Wang CE, Guerrazzi K, Hill S, Woodley CM, Hansen TJ, Lorey SL, Shaw JG, Payne WG, Weissmiller AM, Olejniczak ET, Fesik SW, Liu Q, Tansey WP. Impact of WIN site inhibitor on the WDR5 interactome. Cell Rep. 2021 Jan 19;34(3):108636. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108636.
Morningstar JE, Nieman A, Wang C, Beck T, Harvey A, Norris RA. Mitral Valve Prolapse and Its Motley Crew-Syndromic Prevalence, Pathophysiology, and Progression of a Common Heart Condition. J Am Heart Assoc. 2021 Jun 22:e020919. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.121.020919.
Guo L, Glover J, Risner A, Wang C, Fulmer D, Moore K, Gensemer C, Rumph MK, Moore R, Beck T, Norris RA. Dynamic Expression Profiles of β-Catenin during Murine Cardiac Valve Development. J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2020, 7, 31.
Fulmer D, Toomer KA, Glover J, Guo L, Moore K, Moore R, Stairley R, Gensemer C, Abrol S, Rumph MK, Emetu F, Lipschutz JH, McDowell C, Bian J, Wang C, Beck T, Wessels A, Renault MA, Norris RA. Desert hedgehog-primary cilia cross talk shapes mitral valve tissue by organizing smooth muscle actin. Developmental Biology. March 2020.
Moore K, Moore R, Wang C, Norris R.A. Tugging at the Heart Strings: The Septin Cytoskeleton in Heart Development and Disease. J. Cariovasc. Dev. Dis. Jan 2020, 7(1), 3.