Richard Chih-Chien Wang, MD

Dr. Wang grew up in Houston and received his B.S. from Stanford University. He then enrolled in the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program in New York. He completed his graduate work with Titia de Lange at The Rockefeller University where he studied the role of telomeres in the growth of both normal and transformed cells. After receiving his MD from Cornell in 2006, he returned to Texas to complete his internship in internal medicine and residency in dermatology at UT Southwestern. He received support from the UTSW Physician Scientist Training Program and the Dermatology Foundation to do a research fellowship with Beth Levine. Currently, his research focuses on whether autophagy, a cellular recycling process, can prevent the development of non-melanoma skin cancer. Another area of interest in the lab is human polyomaviruses and their role in skin diseases, including cancer. Research in the laboratory is supported by a K08 grant from the NIH/NCI and a Career Award for Medical Scientists from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Dr. Wang practices general dermatology and has an interest in immunosuppressed patients with skin cancers or viral infections.