Michael Wang Lab

Lab Information

Michael Wang

Michael Zhuo Wang, Ph.D.

Professor

Office: 252 Simons, (785) 864-1899

Labs: Simons 245 and 249

Email: michael.wang@ku.edu

Current Research:

  • Ocular drug disposition, delivery, and therapeutics
  • Environmental PFAS analysis and therapeutics
  • Drug discovery for protozoan infectious diseases
  • Cancer biomarkers and exosomes

Research Areas:

  • Bioanalytical Chemistry & Proteomics
  • Drug Metabolism and Drug Delivery
  • Pharmacometrics
  • Infectious Diseases

Research Projects

Ocular Drug Disposition, Delivery, and Therapeutics 

  • Better understanding of ocular DMEs and DTs to expedite ophthalmic drug devlopment
  • Novel peptide-based drug modality for glaucoma therapy
  • Novel ophthalmic formulations to improve ocular drug delivery
  • Predictive in vitro and computational models for ophthalmic drug/formulation evaluation

 

PFAS Analysis and Therapeutics

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, "Forever chemicals"

 

Human Leishmaniasis

  • Protozoan Leishmania parasites (>20 species), transmitted by sandfly
  • Obligate intracellular parasites (macrophage phagolysosome)
  • 98 countries and 350 million people at risk
  • Most common clinical forms:
    • Visceral (VL): Internal organs (liver/spleen/BM), fatal without treatment, 2nd deadliest parasitic killer in the world (after malaria)
    • Cutaneous (CL): Ulcerative skin lesion, serious social prejudice/stigma
  • VL: 0.2-0.4 mil new cases/yr; 
  • CL: 0.7-1.3 mil new cases/yr;

 

Blood Exosomal Proteins as Non-Invasive Cancer Biomarkers