Dr. Chao Wang awarded Canada Research Chair
Dr. Chao Wang, scientist in biological sciences and the Odette Cancer Research Program at Sunnybrook Research Institute, has been recognized with a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Immunometabolism in Neuroinflammation. Tier 2 CRCs are awarded to exceptional emerging researchers for a five-year term and renewable once.
“I feel very fortunate to be recognized with a Canada Research Chair,” says Dr. Wang, who is also an assistant professor in the department of immunology at the University of Toronto. “The honour motivates me to become a better researcher and teacher.”
The funding will support Dr. Wang and her team as they work to develop immune-based therapies for autoimmune diseases and depressive disorders.
“Congratulations to Chao on her Canada Research Chair,” says Dr. Kullervo Hynynen, vice president of Research and Innovation at Sunnybrook. “It’s a great achievement to be recognized by your peers as a future leader in the field. I look forward to the discoveries Chao and her team will make.”
Dr. Wang came to SRI in the fall of 2020. She was assistant professor at Harvard Medical School (since 2019) after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She obtained her PhD in immunology from the University of Toronto and did undergraduate training at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Wang’s research is centered at the intersection of immunology and neurology, and seeks to better understand the regulation of immune cells in the central nervous system at steady state and during neuroinflammation.
Dr. Wang says the Canada Research Chair program will help her build her lab and bring discoveries to the clinic faster. “The CRC will enable me to attract highly qualified trainees and provide the support needed to reduce the gap between research and therapeutic translations.”
At SRI, Dr. Wang joins existing Tier 1 chairs Dr. David Andrews, Dr. Isabelle Aubert, Dr. JoAnne McLaurin, Dr. Donald Redelmeier, Dr. Greg Stanisz, Dr. Bojana Stefanovic, Dr. Graham Wright, and Tier 2 chairs Dr. Meaghan O’Reilly, Dr. Harindra Wijeysundera and Dr. Hannah Wunsch.
