Lang Wu, PhD
Director, Pacific Center for Genome Research, University of Hawaiʻi
Full Member, Population Sciences in the Pacific Program (Cancer Epidemiology), University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center
Academic Appointment(s):
Associate Professor, Population Sciences in the Pacific Program (Cancer Epidemiology), University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Cooperating Graduate Faculty, Epidemiology and Public Health graduate programs, Office of Public Health Studies, Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Degree(s):
PhD, Clinical and Translational Science, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cancer and Molecular Epidemiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Research Focus
Dr. Wu’s research involves the epidemiologic investigation of genetic, molecular, nutritional, and lifestyle factors in etiology and prognosis of chronic diseases, especially cancer. His long-term research goal is to translate the gained knowledge for prevention, risk assessment, early detection, and prognosis prediction of human chronic diseases. His research has been supported by various grants from the National Cancer Institute, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and V Foundation etc.
A main focus of Dr. Wu’s current research is to conduct integrative multi-omics (genomics, transcriptomics, methylomics, proteomics, metabolomics, etc.) studies to identify novel susceptibility genes and biomarkers for chronic diseases. He has led several large transcriptome-wide association studies evaluating associations of genetically-predicted gene expression levels with risks of prostate, pancreatic, and breast cancers, which identified multiple novel susceptibility gene candidates for these cancers. He has also been investigating DNA methylation, protein, and metabolite biomarkers associated with human diseases using genetic instruments, which identified multiple novel biomarker candidates for prostate and pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, Dr. Wu is studying disease risk prediction using genetic, molecular, and other information.
Selected Publications
Wu C, Zhu J, King A, Tong X, Lu Q, Park JY, Wang L, Gao G, Deng HW, Yang Y, Knudsen KE, Rebbeck TR, Long J, Zheng W, Pan W, Conti DV, Haiman CA, Wu L. (2021). Novel strategy for disease risk prediction incorporating predicted gene expression and DNA methylation data: a multi-phased study of prostate cancer. Cancer Commun (Lond); Dec;41(12):1387-1397. PMID: 34520132. PMCID: PMC8696216
Liu D, Zhou D, Sun Y, Zhu J, Ghoneim D, Wu C, Yao Q, Gamazon ER, Cox NJ, Wu L. (2020). A Transcriptome-Wide Association Study Identifies Candidate Susceptibility Genes for Pancreatic Cancer Risk. Cancer Res; Oct;80(20):4346-4354. PMID: 32907841. PMCID: PMC7572664
Wu L, Yang Y, Guo X, Shu XO, Cai Q, Shu X et al. (2020). An integrative multi-omics analysis to identify candidate DNA methylation biomarkers related to prostate cancer risk. Nat Comm; Aug;11(1):3905. PMID: 32764609. PMCID: PMC7413371.
Wu L, Shu X, Bao J, Guo X, the PRACTICAL, CRUK, BPC3, CAPS, PEGASUS consortia, Kote-Jarai Z, Haiman CA, Eeles RA, Zheng W. (2019). Analysis of over 140,000 European descendants identifies genetically-predicted blood protein biomarkers associated with prostate cancer risk. Cancer Res; Sep;79(18):4592-4598. PMID: 31337649. PMCID: PMC6744971.
Wu L, Shi W, Long J, Guo X, Michailidou K, Beesley J, et al. (2018). A transcriptome-wide association study of 229,000 women identifies new candidate susceptibility genes for breast cancer. Nat Genet; Jul;50(7):968-978. PMID: 29915430. PMCID: PMC6314198.
Publication list via PubMed
Active Grants
L. Wu, Contact MPI
National Human Genome Research Institute/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
U54 HG013243
"Pacific Center for Genome Research"
09/15/23 – 05/31/28
L. Wu, Core Director
National Human Genome Research Institute/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
U54 HG013243
"Administrative Core"
09/15/23 – 05/31/28
L. Wu, Project Leader
National Human Genome Research Institute/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
U54 HG013243
"Project 1: Integrating genome, other layers of omics, and nongenetic data to improve understanding of the etiology of human diseases in multi-ethnic populations"
09/15/23 – 05/31/28
L. Wu, Contact MPI
National Cancer Institute
U01 CA293883
"Uncovering Causal Protein Markers to Characterize Pancreatic Cancer Etiology and Improve Risk Prediction"
09/18/24 – 08/31/29
L. Wu, Contact MPI
National Cancer Institute
R01 CA263494
"Uncovering causal protein markers to improve prostate cancer etiology understanding and risk prediction in Africans and Europeans"
07/01/22 – 06/30/27
L. Wu, PI
V Foundation
V Scholar V2021-023
"Uncovering causal protein and metabolite markers in blood to improve pancreatic cancer etiology understanding"
11/01/21 – 11/01/24
