For More Information

• Xingw Nucleic Acids Programming Lab (NAPL) at UIUC
• Xingw lab at Illinois experts profile
• Xingw lab profile at Chemistry Department, UIUC

Education

• New York University, Ph.D., 2009

Biography

Dr. Xing Wang received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from New York University. He did his postdoctoral training at Princeton University to mainly explore novel functions of synthetic RNAs in genome editing. He is a recipient of the Mikashi Award (UIUC) in 2021. He was selected as a Fellow of Y Combinator Founder Cohort in 2021. Dr. Wang is a co-founder of a startup company, Atom Bioworks Inc., where he currently serves as a scientific advisor. His team's DNA Machine Demo was selected by TechCrunch as a best project in the Y Combinator's W21 Demo Day event. He got a Spoke Award (CZ BioHub Chicago) in 2024. Before joining UIUC, Dr. Wang was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Academic Positions

• Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry, Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory (MNTL), Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), Center for Genomic Diagnostics (CGD), Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2024-present
• Research Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022-2024
• Research Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory (MNTL), Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), Center for Genomic Diagnostics (CGD), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019-2024
• Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS), Biochemistry and Biophysics Program (BCBP), Center for Materials, Devices, and Integrated Systems (cMDIS), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2014-2019

Documents

• Photo of Prof. Xing Wang

Major Consulting Activities

• Scientific Advisor and co-Founder, Atom Bioworks Inc., Cary, NC, 2020-present

Professional Registrations

• American Chemical Society, 2003-present
• International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation and Engineering, 2003-present
• Materials Research Society, 2020-present

Research Statement

Dr. Xing Wang is a bioengineer and biochemist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).  His research group utilizes nucleic acids and protein engineering to evolve new molecular binders, and create and customize designer DNA nanostructure-based “plug-and-play” platforms for bioengineering and bionanotechnology applications centered on healthcare.  He also has training in RNA-mediated genome programming and cellular engineering, and RNA chemistry and biology.  Dr. Wang is an inventor of the DNA Star, DNA Net, and DNA NanoGripper platforms/strategy for multivalent and pattern-recognition enabled disease diagnostics and therapeutics (Nat. Chem., 2020; Nat. Protoc., 2022; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 2024; Sci. Robot., 2024).  Dr. Wang's Nucleic Acids Programming Lab (NAPL) focuses on the creation and development of (1) effective therapeutic candidates and targeted drug/mRNA delivery platforms for cancer treatment and immunotherapy, as well as inhibition and prevention of viral infections, (2) ultrasensitive and inexpensive biosensors for rapid, simple, and amplification free disease diagnostics in point-of-care, self-testing, and laboratory-based high-throughput settings, (3) machine learning model, molecular docking, and molecular dynamic simulations pipeline to rapidly obtain new ligands for targeted drug delivery, and (4) molecular barcodes for multiplex and high resolution biosensing and imaging.  His research group is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF).

Research Interests

• Nucleic Acids Engineering
• Designer DNA Nanostructure
• Biosensing and Biomedicine
• Bionanotechnology
• Protein Engineering

Research Honors

• DNA Machine Demo was selected by TechCrunch as a best project in the Y Combinators W21 Demo Day event (YC) (2021)
• Fellow of Y Combinator Founder Cohort (YC) (2021)
• Mikashi Award (UIUC) (2021)
• Spoke Award (CZ BioHub Chicago) (2024)