Rate My Professor Weiping Tang

Weiping Tang is the Janis Apinis Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also serves as Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Medicinal Chemistry Center. He joined the faculty in 2007 following his postdoctoral training in medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and drug discovery at Harvard University. Tang holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Stanford University (2005), an M.S. in chemistry from New York University (1999), and a B.S. in chemistry from Peking University (1997). His career has been marked by progressive academic appointments, including assistant and associate professor roles at UW-Madison prior to his current professorships.

Tang's research centers on drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, organic synthesis, and chemical biology, with a particular emphasis on targeted protein degradation technologies. His laboratory designs and synthesizes proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and molecular glues to selectively degrade disease-associated proteins, including histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) for anti-myeloma applications, estrogen receptors for breast cancer, MDM2 for cancer therapy, and extracellular proteins using triantennary N-acetylgalactosamine conjugates. Notable publications include 'Development of Triantennary N-Acetylgalactosamine Conjugates as Degraders for Extracellular Proteins' (ACS Cent. Sci., 2021), 'Development of Multi-Functional Histone Deacetylase 6 Degraders with Potent Anti-Myeloma Activity' (J. Med. Chem., 2019), 'Development of Selective Small Molecule MDM2 Degraders Based on Nutlin' (Eur. J. Med. Chem., 2019), and 'A General Strategy for the Synthesis of Rare Sugars via Ru(II)-Catalyzed and Boron-Mediated Selective Epimerization of 1,2-trans-Diols to 1,2-cis-Diols' (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2022). In glycoscience, his group advances streamlined synthesis of carbohydrates, bacterial sugars, and site-selective functionalizations for therapeutic applications. Tang has earned prestigious awards such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship (2005-2007), Amgen Young Investigator Award (2011), Thieme Chemistry Journals Award (2010), UW-Madison Vilas Mid-Career Investigator Award (2018), and the Janis Apinis Professorship (2019). His contributions influence treatments for cancer, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders through innovative small molecule probes and delivery strategies.