Leo David Wang, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Wang leads a research laboratory focused on harnessing the immune system to fight cancer in children. Work there uses cellular engineering to reprogram the body’s own immune cells to kill tumor cells, and to teach reengineered cells to adapt to tumors as they change and evolve to try to escape from therapy. Dr. Wang also leads clinical trials using these living medicines to treat children with brain tumors and other forms of deadly cancer, and uses the information learned from these trials to improve the design and implementation of next-generation therapies. The lab’s research has won multiple honors and awards, and Dr. Wang is always available to talk to families who have questions. For more information, please email pediatrictrials@coh.org
Dr. Wang is also the Director of City of Hope’s Alpha Clinic, one of nine sites throughout California forming a CIRM-funded network to make it easier for patients to access and enroll in stem cell and regenerative medicine clinical trials. In this capacity, he works with colleagues at City of Hope and throughout California to build robust and sustainable clinical trial infrastructure capable of providing cutting-edge care to all Californians.
Dr. Wang earned his undergraduate degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University, followed by his Ph.D. and medical doctorate at University of Chicago. He completed internship and residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology/stem cell transplantation fellowship at the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, where he pursued postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Amy Wagers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
Duarte Cancer Center
Duarte, CA 91010
B.S., Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Ph.D., University of Chicago Committee on Immunology (Marcus Clark, advisor), University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
M.D., University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology/Stem Cell Transplant, Dana Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA
Postdoctoral Fellow, Amy Wagers, PI, Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA
2023-Present, Program Director, City of Hope Alpha Stem Cell Clinic, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
2023-present, Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Immuno-Oncology, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
2016-2023, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Immuno-Oncology and Department of Pediatrics, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
2011-2016, Instructor in Pediatrics, Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA
Leo Wang Lab focuses on using cutting-edge protein-focused technologies to understand how immune cells make state and fate transitions. The overarching goal of our lab is to understand how engineered immune therapies like chimeric antigen receptor T cells interact with tumors and the endogenous immune system. We use a combination of in vitro and in vivo techniques, as well as innovative clinical trials and correlative studies, to move between the bench and the bedside in search of better therapies for children with cancer
- Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Young Investigator Award
- B+ Foundation Award
- Damon Runyon-Sohn Foundation Pediatric Cancer Research Fellowship
- Hyundai Hope on Wheels Scholar Award
- Margaret E. Early Memorial Trust Cancer Research Award
- Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation Translational Research Award
- V Foundation Translational Research Award
- Hinz S, Manousopoulou A, Miyano M, Sayaman RW, Aguilera KY, Todhunter ME, Lopez JC, Sohn LL, Wang LD, LaBarge MA. Deep proteome profiling of human mammary epithelia at lineage and age resolution. iScience. 2021 Sep 24;24(9):103026. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103026. eCollection 2021 Sep 24. PubMed PMID: 34522866; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8426267.
- Simonds EF, Lu ED, Badillo O, Karimi S, Liu EV, Tamaki W, Rancan C, Downey KM, Stultz J, Sinha M, McHenry LK, Nasholm NM, Chuntova P, Sundström A, Genoud V, Shahani SA, Wang LD, Brown CE, Walker PR, Swartling FJ, Fong L, Okada H, Weiss WA, Hellström M. Deep immune profiling reveals targetable mechanisms of immune evasion in immune checkpoint inhibitor-refractory glioblastoma. J Immunother Cancer. 2021 Jun;9(6):e002181. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2020-002181. PMID: 34083417; PMCID: PMC8183210.
- Rockne RC, Branciamore S, Qi J, Frankhouser DE, O'Meally D, Hua WK, Cook G, Carnahan E, Zhang L, Marom A, Wu H, Maestrini D, Wu X, Yuan YC, Liu Z, Wang LD, Forman S, Carlesso N, Kuo YH, Marcucci G. State-Transition Analysis of Time-Sequential Gene Expression Identifies Critical Points That Predict Development of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Cancer Res. 2020 Aug 1;80(15):3157-3169. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-0354. Epub 2020 May 15. PubMed PMID: 32414754; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7416495.
- Lindner SE, Egelston CA, Huard SM, Lee PP, Wang LD. Arhgap25 Deficiency Leads to Decreased Numbers of Peripheral Blood B Cells and Defective Germinal Center Reactions. Immunohorizons. 2020 May 20;4(5):274-281. doi: 10.4049/immunohorizons.2000021. PubMed PMID: 32434881; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7301639.
- Lindner SE, Johnson SM, Brown CE, Wang LD. Chimeric antigen receptor signaling: Functional consequences and design implications. Sci Adv. 2020 May;6(21):eaaz3223. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz3223. eCollection 2020 May. Review. PubMed PMID: 32637585; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7314561.
- Manousopoulou A, Wang LD. ALL the comforts of homing: lymphoblasts find cerebrospinal fluid inhospitable without meningeal cell contact. Br J Haematol. 2020 May;189(3):395-397. doi: 10.1111/bjh.16368. Epub 2020 Jan 24. PubMed PMID: 31975371.
- Kohn DB, Booth C, Kang EM, Pai SY, Shaw KL, Santilli G, Armant M, Buckland KF, Choi U, De Ravin SS, Dorsey MJ, Kuo CY, Leon-Rico D, Rivat C, Izotova N, Gilmour K, Snell K, Dip JX, Darwish J, Morris EC, Terrazas D, Wang LD, Bauser CA, Paprotka T, Kuhns DB, Gregg J, Raymond HE, Everett JK, Honnet G, Biasco L, Newburger PE, Bushman FD, Grez M, Gaspar HB, Williams DA, Malech HL, Galy A, Thrasher AJ. Lentiviral gene therapy for X-linked chronic granulomatous disease. Nat Med. 2020 Feb;26(2):200-206. doi: 10.1038/s41591-019-0735-5. Epub 2020 Jan 27. PubMed PMID: 31988463; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7115833.
- Goldstein JM, Tabebordbar M, Zhu K, Wang LD, Messemer KA, Peacker B, Ashrafi Kakhki S, Gonzalez-Celeiro M, Shwartz Y, Cheng JKW, Xiao R, Barungi T, Albright C, Hsu YC, Vandenberghe LH, Wagers AJ. In Situ Modification of Tissue Stem and Progenitor Cell Genomes. Cell Rep. 2019 Apr 23;27(4):1254-1264.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.03.105. PubMed PMID: 31018138; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6858480.
- Rao TN, Gupta MK, Softic S, Wang LD, Jang YC, Thomou T, Bezy O, Kulkarni RN, Kahn CR, Wagers AJ. Attenuation of PKCδ enhances metabolic activity and promotes expansion of blood progenitors. EMBO J. 2018 Dec 14;37(24). doi: 10.15252/embj.2018100409. Epub 2018 Nov 16. PubMed PMID: 30446598; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6293338.
- Pawlowska AB, Cheng JC, Karras NA, Sun W, Wang LD, Bell AD, Gutierrez L, Rosenthal J. HLA Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplant with Pretransplant Immunosuppression for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2018 Jan;24(1):185-189. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2017.08.039. Epub 2017 Sep 20. PubMed PMID: 28939451.
- Wang LD, Ficarro SB, Hutchinson JN, Csepanyi-Komi R, Nguyen PT, Wisniewski E, Sullivan J, Hofmann O, Ligeti E, Marto JA, Wagers AJ. Phosphoproteomic profiling of mouse primary HSPCs reveals new regulators of HSPC mobilization. Blood. 2016 Sep 15;128(11):1465-74. doi: 10.1182/blood-2016-05-711424. Epub 2016 Jun 30. PubMed PMID: 27365422; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5025898.
- Rowe RG, Wang LD, Coma S, Han A, Mathieu R, Pearson DS, Ross S, Sousa P, Nguyen PT, Rodriguez A, Wagers AJ, Daley GQ. Developmental regulation of myeloerythroid progenitor function by the Lin28b-let-7-Hmga2 axis. J Exp Med. 2016 Jul 25;213(8):1497-512. doi: 10.1084/jem.20151912. Epub 2016 Jul 11. PubMed PMID: 27401346; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4986532.
- Wang LD, Rao TN, Rowe RG, Nguyen PT, Sullivan JL, Pearson DS, Doulatov S, Wu L, Lindsley RC, Zhu H, DeAngelo DJ, Daley GQ, Wagers AJ. The role of Lin28b in myeloid and mast cell differentiation and mast cell malignancy. Leukemia. 2015 Jun;29(6):1320-30. doi: 10.1038/leu.2015.19. Epub 2015 Feb 6. PubMed PMID: 25655194; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4456252.
- Nabors LK, Wang LD, Wagers AJ, Kansas GS. Overlapping roles for endothelial selectins in murine hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell homing to bone marrow. Exp Hematol. 2013 Jul;41(7):588-96. doi: 10.1016/j.exphem.2013.02.014. Epub 2013 Mar 14. PubMed PMID: 23499761; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3700604.
- Wang LD, Wagers AJ. Dynamic niches in the origination and differentiation of haematopoietic stem cells. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2011 Sep 2;12(10):643-55. doi: 10.1038/nrm3184. Review. PubMed PMID: 21886187; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4040463.
- Clark MR, Cooper AB, Wang LD, Aifantis I. The pre-B cell receptor in B cell development: recent advances, persistent questions and conserved mechanisms. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2005;290:87-103. doi: 10.1007/3-540-26363-2_5. Review. PubMed PMID: 16480040.
- Wang LD, Lopes J, Cooper AB, Dang-Lawson M, Matsuuchi L, Clark MR. Selection of B lymphocytes in the periphery is determined by the functional capacity of the B cell antigen receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Jan 27;101(4):1027-32. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0307040101. Epub 2004 Jan 13. PubMed PMID: 14722356; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC327145.
- Wang LD, Clark MR. B-cell antigen-receptor signalling in lymphocyte development. Immunology. 2003 Dec;110(4):411-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2003.01756.x. Review. PubMed PMID: 14632637; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1783068.
- Wang LD, Clark MR. Igalpha: B all that you can B. J Clin Invest. 1999 Oct;104(8):1011-2. doi: 10.1172/JCI8510. PubMed PMID: 10525036; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC408873.
- Atwood WJ, Wang L, Durham LC, Amemiya K, Traub RG, Major EO. Evaluation of the role of cytokine activation in the multiplication of JC virus (JCV) in human fetal glial cells. J Neurovirol. 1995 Mar;1(1):40-9. doi: 10.3109/13550289509111009. PubMed PMID: 9222341.
- Gelbard HA, Nottet HS, Swindells S, Jett M, Dzenko KA, Genis P, White R, Wang L, Choi YB, Zhang D. Platelet-activating factor: a candidate human immunodeficiency virus type 1-induced neurotoxin. J Virol. 1994 Jul;68(7):4628-35. PubMed PMID: 8207837; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC236390.