Associate Professor Jenny Wang heads the Cancer and Stem Cell Laboratory at the University of Sydney's Kolling Institute of Medical Research, within the Faculty of Medicine and Health. An NHMRC Leadership Fellow, she returned to Sydney in 2011 after completing postdoctoral research in leukemia stem cell biology at Harvard Medical School from 2005 to 2011. She holds a PhD and previously served as Group Leader at the Children's Cancer Institute, UNSW, and Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW's School of Clinical Medicine. Wang's research elucidates the transformation of normal stem cells into cancer stem cells in lethal blood cancers, particularly acute myeloid leukemia (AML), characterized by high relapse rates due to chemotherapy-resistant stem cells. Her laboratory utilizes advanced methodologies such as single-cell multiomics, CUT&Tag, functional genomics, epigenetics, signaling pathways analysis, cancer metabolism studies, and patient-derived xenograft models to pinpoint therapeutic vulnerabilities and devise targeted interventions including immunotherapies and CAR-T cell therapies that selectively eliminate malignant cells while preserving healthy ones.

Wang's pivotal publications encompass "Targeting RSPO3-LGR4 signaling for leukemia stem cell eradication in acute myeloid leukemia" (Cancer Cell, 2020), which identified a novel therapeutic pathway; "Loss of the stress sensor GADD45A promotes stem cell activity and leukemogenesis" (Blood, 2024), uncovering ferroptosis resistance in AML stem cells; and "The pan-cancer lncRNA PLANE regulates an alternative splicing program to promote cancer pathogenesis" (Nature Communications, 2021). She has obtained significant funding, including a 2025 NHMRC Investigator Grant targeting malignant stem cells, a 2024 Cancer Council NSW grant for aggressive ALT cancers, and Tour de Cure grants. With over 1,000 citations on ResearchGate, her preclinical discoveries are progressing toward clinical trials in collaboration with industry and clinicians, substantially advancing strategies for treating refractory leukemias.

Professional Email: jenny.wang@sydney.edu.au