Shaomeng Wang, PhD

2009-2010 BCRF Project:
This BCRF-supported project aims at discovery and development of an entirely new class of effective and non-toxic anticancer therapy by inducing breast cancer cells to commit "programmed cell death", or apoptosis. Dr. Wang at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has led a team of scientists to design and develop a class of new small-molecule drugs, called "Smac mimetics." Dr. Wang has shown that these Smac mimetics are extremely effective in killing breast cancer cells, alone or in combination with other anticancer drugs, while having no toxicity to normal cells. They have now further shown that their most promising drug leads induce tumor regression in laboratory models of human breast cancer, while showing no toxicity. Based upon their exciting research results, a drug candidate has been selected. The investigation new drug (IND) application package is being submitted to the US FDA in July 2009, followed by human clinical trials to evaluate this new anticancer drug in patients with advanced breast cancer.

Mid-Year Progress Report:
Based upon Dr. Wang's laboratory's previous research results, a drug candidate (SM-406) has been selected and has now been advanced into human clinical trials as a new anticancer drug. Dr. Wang's ongoing research supported by BCRF will define the molecular signatures which predict the response of human breast cancers to this novel anticancer drug and determine the most effective combinations.

Bio:
Shaomeng Wang received his PhD in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University in 1992. He did his postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health in anti-cancer and anti-HIV drug design and molecular modeling. In 1996, he joined the Georgetown University Medical Center as an Assistant Professor and a Senior Investigator at the Lombardi Cancer Center and became Associate Professor of Oncology and Neuroscience in 2000. He was recruited to University of Michigan in 2001 and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The major focus in Dr. Wang's laboratory is to design and develop small molecule drugs targeting at specific oncogenes in signal transduction and apoptosis employing a powerful structure-based design strategy. Working closely with Dr. Dajun Yang's laboratory, Dr. Wang has discovered several promising drug leads that specifically inhibit the activity of Her-2/erbB-2, an oncogene which is overexpressed in 30% of human breast cancer. Dr. Wang's ultimate goal in this project is to advance a potent and specific Her-2/erbB-2 small molecule inhibitor into clinic as a novel therapy for the treatment of breast cancer.