Richard Wang, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Wang grew up in Houston and received his B.S. from Stanford University. He then enrolled in the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program in New York. He completed his graduate work with Titia de Lange at The Rockefeller University where he studied the role of telomeres in the growth of both normal and transformed cells. After receiving his MD from Cornell in 2006, he returned to Texas to complete his internship in internal medicine and residency in dermatology at UT Southwestern. He received support from the UTSW Physician Scientist Training Program and the Dermatology Foundation to do a research fellowship with Beth Levine.

Currently, his research focuses on whether autophagy, a cellular ‘recycling’ process, can prevent the development of non-melanoma skin cancer. Another area of interest in the lab is human polyomaviruses and their role in skin diseases, including cancer. Research in the laboratory is supported by a K08 grant from the NIH/NCI and a Career Award for Medical Scientists from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Dr. Wang practices general dermatology and has an interest in immunosuppressed patients with skin cancers or viral infections.

Graduate School	Rockefeller University (2005)
Medical School	Weill Cornell Medical College (2006)
Internship	University of Texas Southwestern (2007)
Residency	University of Texas Southwestern (2010)

• Allergy
• Dermatology
• General Dermatology
• Skin Allergies

• Primary Interests
• Acne
• Atopic Dermatitis
• Chronic Cellulitis
• Eczema
• Nevi (Moles)
• Patients With Multiple Moles
• Pigmented Lesions
• Previous Skin Cancers
• Psoriasis
• Skin Check
• Skin Disorders
• Transplant Patients

• Autophagy
• Polyomaviruses
• Skin Cancer

Featured Publications

Akt-Mediated Regulation of Autophagy and Tumorigenesis through Beclin 1 Phosphorylation.

Wang RC, Wei Y, An Z, Zou Z, Xiao G, Bhagat G, White M, Reichelt J, and Levine B. Science 2012 338 6109

Viral-associated trichodysplasia spinulosa: a case with electron microscopic and molecular detection of the trichodysplasia spinulosa-associated human polyomavirus.

Matthews MR*, Wang RC*, Reddick RL, Saldivar VA, Browning JC. J Cutan Pathol. May 2011 38(5) 420-31

Homologous recombination generates T-loop-sized deletions at human telomeres

Wang RC, Smogorzewska A, de Lange T Cell October 2004 119(3) 355-68. Cover article.

Calcipotriol induces autophagy in HeLa cells and keratinocytes.

Wang RC, Levine B. J Invest Dermatol. April 2011 131(4) 990-3

Subclinical Lung Disease, Macrocytosis and Premature Graying in Kindreds with Telomerase (TERT) Mutations.

Diaz de Leon A, Cronkhite JT, Yilmaz C, Brewington C, Wang R, Xing C, Hsia CC, Garcia CK. Chest February 2011

Autophagy in cellular growth control.

Wang RC, Levine B. FEBS Lett. April 2010 584(7) 1417-26

Engineered telomere degradation models dyskeratosis congenita.

Hockemeyer D, Palm W, Wang RC, Couto SS, de Lange T. Genes Dev. July 2008 22(13) 1773-85

Tel2 regulates the stability of PI3K-related protein kinases

Takai H, Wang RC, Takai KK, Yang H, de Lange T Cell December 2007 131(7) 2167-77

• Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists
  (2012)
• The Dermatology Foundation Physician Scientist Career Development Award
  (2011)
• Stanford University President’s Scholar
  (1998)