Michelle Wang
{{Short description|Chinese-American physicist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Michelle Dong Wang
| education = {{ubl|University of Michigan|Nanjing University|Chinese Academy of Sciences|University of Southern Mississippi}}
| thesis_title = {{nobr|Reaction and aggregation dynamics}} of cell surface receptors
| thesis_url = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/713128957
| thesis_year = 1993
}}
Michelle Dong Wang is a Chinese-American physicist who is the James Gilbert White Distinguished Professor of the Physical Sciences at Cornell University. She is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her research considers biomolecular motors and single molecule optical trapping techniques. She was appointed Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2009 and the Biophysical Society in 2024.
Early life and education
Wang earned her bachelor's degree in nuclear physics at Nanjing University.{{Cite web |title=Michelle Wang {{!}} Department of Physics |url=https://physics.cornell.edu/michelle-wang |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=physics.cornell.edu}} She moved to the Chinese Academy of Sciences for her graduate studies, where she majored in physics and earned a doctorate in 1986. Wang moved to the United States in 1986, where she worked toward a master's degree at the University of Southern Mississippi. She completed a second doctorate at the University of Michigan.{{Cite book|last=Wang|first=Michelle Dong|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9oUeAQAAMAAJ|title=Reaction and aggregation dynamics of cell surface receptors.|date=1993|language=English|oclc=713128957}} Wang was a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
Research and career
In 1998, Wang was appointed assistant professor at Cornell University, where she was made Professor in 2009. Wang is interested in single-molecule biophysics. Her research considers biological molecular motors, including RNA polymerase molecules which move along the DNA template during cell division. During this process genetic information is transferred from DNA into new RNA.{{Cite web|title=Michelle D. Wang|url=https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/michelle-d-wang|access-date=2021-04-12|website=HHMI.org|language=en}} DNA motor proteins often experience roadblocks, including binding proteins that can interfere with essential biological processes. Wang has looked to understand the interactions between histones and DNA in nucleosomes.{{Cite web|title=Roadblocks « Wang Lab at Cornell University|url=http://wanglab.lassp.cornell.edu/?page_id=974|access-date=2021-04-12|website=wanglab.lassp.cornell.edu}}
Wang has pioneered several structural probes to better understand molecular motors, including angular optical trapping, DNA unzipping and nanophotonics.{{Cite web|title=Research « Wang Lab at Cornell University|url=http://wanglab.lassp.cornell.edu/?page_id=969|access-date=2021-04-12|website=wanglab.lassp.cornell.edu}} Angular optical traps isolate birefringent particles within a polarized laser beam. The particles can be rotated by rotating the polarization of the laser, which allows for the precise control and identification of biological molecules which are attached to the birefringent particles. To perform these optical rotation measurements, Wang makes use of bio-functionalized quartz nano-cylinders.{{Cite web|title=Angular Optical Trap « Wang Lab at Cornell University|url=http://wanglab.lassp.cornell.edu/?page_id=1012|access-date=2021-04-12|website=wanglab.lassp.cornell.edu}} Building on her experiences in photonics, Wang created an electro-optofluidic platform that can be used to trap single molecules. These traps use photonic interference to create three-dimensional on-chip optical traps at the antinodes of the standing waves of an evanescent field.{{Cite web|title=Nanophotonics « Wang Lab at Cornell University|url=http://wanglab.lassp.cornell.edu/?page_id=1014|access-date=2021-04-12|website=wanglab.lassp.cornell.edu}}
Awards and honors
- 2000 W. M. Keck Foundation Distinguished Young Scholar award{{Cite web|title=Cornell biophysicist Michelle D. Wang receives $1 million Keck Distinguished Young Scholar award|url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2000/09/biophysicist-michelle-d-wang-receives-1-million-keck-distinguished-young-scholar|access-date=2021-04-12|website=Cornell Chronicle|language=en}}
- 2008 Cornell University Provost's Award for Distinguished Scholarship{{Cite web|date=April 17, 2008|title=Five faculty members receive Provost's Awards for Distinguished Scholarship|url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2008/04/five-receive-provosts-awards-distinguished-scholarship|access-date=2021-04-12|website=Cornell Chronicle|language=en}}
- 2008 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
- 2009 Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society{{Cite web|title=APS Fellow Archive|url=http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm|access-date=2021-04-12|website=www.aps.org|language=en}}
- 2023 Elected to Member of the National Academy of Sciences{{Cite web |title=Michelle D. Wang – NAS |url=https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/michelle-d-wang-rbti7m/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=www.nasonline.org/ |language=en-US}}
- 2024 Elected Fellow of the Biophysical Society{{Cite web |title=Biophysical Society Announces 2024 Society Fellows |url=https://www.biophysics.org/news-room/biophysical-society-announces-2024-society-fellows |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=The Biophysical Society |language=en-US}}
Selected publications
- {{Cite Q|Q28237199}}
- {{Cite Q|Q34011797}}
- {{Cite Q|Q52232915}}
References
{{reflist}}
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American women physicists
Category:Cornell University faculty
Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society
Category:Nanjing University alumni
Category:University of Southern Mississippi alumni
Category:University of Michigan alumni