Rate My Professor Wei-Xing Zong

Wei-Xing Zong is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical Biology at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He also holds the John L. Colaizzi Endowed Chair in Pharmacy. Dr. Zong received his PhD in 2000 from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in the laboratory of Dr. Celine Gelinas, where his work focused on Rel/NF-kB transcription factors and apoptosis regulation. He completed postdoctoral training from 2000 to 2005 in the laboratory of Dr. Craig Thompson at the University of Pennsylvania, investigating Bax and Bak in apoptosis and PARP-mediated necrotic cell death. In 2005, he joined Stony Brook University as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, advancing to Associate Professor in 2011 and Full Professor in 2013. He moved to Rutgers University in 2015.

Dr. Zong’s research centers on cancer cell metabolism, cell death, autophagy, protein homeostasis, and cancer growth signaling. His laboratory employs molecular, biochemical, animal model, and clinical sample approaches to study the mechanistic basis of oncogenesis and to develop therapeutic strategies, with particular emphasis on nitrogen metabolism in liver cancer and tumor suppressors in B-cell malignancies. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed papers in these areas. Dr. Zong was named Distinguished Professor in 2025 and received the Rutgers Health Chancellor Award for Excellence in Basic Sciences Research in 2024. He serves as Co-Director of an NIH T32 Postdoctoral Training Program since 2021 and has received earlier awards including the Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Award, Susan G. Komen Catalyst Research Award, and the Howard Temin Award from the NCI. His professional email address is publicly listed on official Rutgers profiles.