Research/Areas of Interest
Carotenoids, retinoids and cancer prevention
Education
- MD, Medicine, Peking University
- PhD, Nutrition, Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University
Biography
Dr. Xiang-Dong Wang is Senior Scientist and Leader of the Nutrition and Cancer Biology Team at the HNRCA as well as Associate Director of the HNRCA. He is an internationally renowned research scientist on the cancer-promoting role of tobacco smoking, chronic alcohol intake, and high fat and sugar consumption as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer benefits of the bioactive components in fruits and vegetables. His research involves developing complementary dietary agents that prevent cancer development. Dr. Wang’s team examines how phytochemicals, carotenoids, and vitamin A modify molecular and genetic pathways that alter the development of cancers, such as those of the lung, liver, and colon. Dr. Wang’s current research includes studying molecular targets of carotenoids and their metabolites in cancer prevention, bioactive components of tomato (e.g., lycopene and phytofluene) and their anti-inflammatory action, and how foods rich in β-cryptoxanthin (e.g., red pepper, butternut squash) possess benefits against fatty liver and liver cancer. Dr. Wang’s research has contributed greatly to our knowledge of the eccentric cleavage metabolism of carotenoids, in addition to the central cleavage pathway, into biologically active compounds. He has published more than 140 peer-reviewed original research manuscripts, reviews and book chapters and has given a number of invited presentations throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. He is also a Professor in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and Associate Editor of Advances in Nutrition.