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Title
Professor
Area of Study/Expertise
Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Office Location
160 Frelinghuysen Road, William Levine Hall Room 320
Phone Number
848-445-6488
Fax
732-445-5493
Email
junwang@pharmacy.rutgers.edu

Jun Wang, Ph.D.

Work Experience:

  • 07/2024 –                                                                                                                                                                Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (Piscataway, NJ)                                                                    Professor                                                                                                                                                        Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
  • 01/2022 – 06/2024                                                                                                                                                  Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (Piscataway, NJ)                                                                    Associate Professor                                                                                                                                          Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
  • 07/2020 – 12/2021                                                                                                                                                University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)                                                                                                                  Associate Professor                                                                                                                                                Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy
  • 03/2014 – 06/2020                                                                                                                                                  University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)                                                                                                                      Assistant Professor                                                                                                                                            Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy

Education:

B.Sc. in chemistry and Bachelor in Economics, 1999-2003, Wuhan University, China.
M.Sc. Chemical Biology, Advisor: Dr. Shaoqin Yao, 2004-2006, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, Advisor: Dr. William F. DeGrado, 2006-2010, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.
Postdoc, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Advisor: Dr. William F. DeGrado, 2010-2010, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.
Postdoc, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Advisor: Dr. William F. DeGrado, 2011-2014, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Biosketch:

Jun Wang received his B.Sc in Chemistry from Wuhan University, China, in 2003. He worked one year as a research scientist at Scinopharm Biomedical Co. Ltd in Kunshan, Jiangsu province. In 2004, he joined Dr. Shaoqin Yao’s group in the Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore as a graduate student. He gained experience in peptide chemistry and chemical biology by studying matrix metalloproteases using activity-based chemical probes and peptidomimetic inhibitors. After obtaining an MSc degree in chemistry in 2006, he joined Dr. William F. DeGrado’s group at the University of Pennsylvania. His Ph.D. project focused on the design of channel blockers targeting the drug-resistant influenza A virus M2 proton channel. After graduating in 2010 with a Ph.D. degree in chemistry, he continued the postdoctoral research in the DeGrado lab and relocated with the lab to UCSF in 2011. Dr. Wang started his independent academic career in 2014 as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Arizona. In 2020, he was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure. In 2022, he joined the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, and was promoted to professor in 2024. Dr. Wang received the ABRC Young Investigator Award in 2017, the College of Pharmacy A. Jay Gandolfi New Investigator Award in 2019, the CAPA distinguished faculty award in 2022, and the New Jersey Health Foundation Excellence in Research Award in 2023. Dr. Wang is the editorial board member of multiple journals, including Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Medicinal Research Reviews, and Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B. He is also a frequent ad hoc reviewer for multiple funding agencies. His current research interests are the medicinal chemistry and pharmacology of antivirals targeting emerging and re-emerging viruses, including influenza virus, enterovirus, and coronavirus. Dr. Wang’s research has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, ABRC, and PhRMA Foundation.

Professional appointments:

Honors/Awards:

  • 2024 ACS Infectious Diseases/ACS Division of Biological Chemistry Young Investigator Award
  • 2023 ACS Medicinal Chemistry Division Young Investigator Award
  • 2023 New Jersey Health Foundation Excellence in Research Award
  • 2023 Distinguished Faculty Award, Chinese-American Chemistry & Chemical Biology Professors Association (CAPA)
  • 2019 University of Arizona College of Pharmacy A. Jay Gandolfi New Investigator Award