Dr. Kang is currently an Assistant Professor in Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Faculty of Medicine. He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine degree (Forensic Medicine) in Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Wuhan) in 2001, followed by his Master's study in Pathology at Southern Medical University (Guangzhou). In 2010, he got his PhD degree under the supervision of Prof. To Ka Fai in the Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Then he was awarded Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Assistant Professor to continue focused gastric cancer research. In recent years, Dr. Kang has engaged in active gastric cancer research in the State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology and State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease. Dr. Kang has been supported by RGC-GRF, NSFC, CUHK direct grants and has published more than 130 papers in peer-reviewed journals such as Molecular Cancer, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Theranostics, Clinical and Translational Medicine, Oncogene, and Journal of Pathology.

Dr. Kang serves as reviewer for National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Poland National Science Fund, and Fund of French National Alliance for Life and Health Sciences jointly with the French National Cancer Institute, together with more than 175 journals (total review times > 550). Meanwhile, he supervises PhD/MPhil/MSc students at CUHK.

Research Interests:
The Hippo-YAP1 pathway in gastric carcinogenesis and tumor microenvironment
The role of cancer-associated fibroblast in gastric carcinogenesis
Identification of novel druggable targets based on molecular classification of gastric cancer

Research Opportunities:
Postgraduate studentship and Postdoctoral fellowship positions are available. Please contact Dr. Kang for inquiries.

Grants (As Principal Investigator):
Research Grant Council - General Research Fund (2019, 2018, 2016)
Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (2022, 2012)
CUHK Direct Grant for Research (2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014)

Journal Editorship:
Associate Editor: Molecular Cancer (2017-Present) (IF: 27.3)
Editor: Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research (2023-Present) (IF: 11.4)

Journal publications (h-index: 45)
Researcher ID: https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/1566392
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4651-677X
Total publications: 135; as first (or co-) or corresponding (or co-) author publications: 58

1 Liu X#, Chen B#, Xie F#, Wong KY, Cheung AH, Zhang J, Wu Q, Fang C, Hu J, Wang S, Xu D, Chen J, Wang Y, Wong CC, Chen H, Wu WKK, Yu J, Chan MWY, Tsang CM, Lo KW, Tse GMK, To KF, Kang W*. FOXP4 is a Direct YAP1 Target that Promotes Gastric Cancer Stemness and Drives Metastasis. Cancer Research. 2024 Jul 24. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-23-3074

2 Chen B#, Liu X#, Yu P#, Xie F, Kwan JSH, Chan WN, Fang C, Zhang J, Cheung AHK, Chow C, Leung GWM, Leung KT, Shi S, Zhang B, Wang S, Xu D, Fu K, Wong CC, Wu WKK, Chan MWY, Tang PMK, Tsang CM, Lo KW, Tse GMK, Yu J, To KF, Kang W*. H. pylori-induced NF-κB-PIEZO1-YAP1-CTGF axis drives gastric cancer progression and cancer-associated fibroblast-mediated tumour microenvironment remodelling. Clinical and Translational Medicine. 2023 Nov;13(11):e1481

3 Lyu Y#, Xie F#, Chen B, Shin WS, Chen W, He Y, Leung KT, Tse GMK, Yu J, To KF, Kang W*. The nerve cells in gastrointestinal cancers: from molecular mechanisms to clinical intervention. Oncogene. 2023 Dec 11. doi: 10.1038/s41388-023-02909-x

4 Zhang #J, Chen B#, Wang Y#, Liu X#, Yan H, Wong KY, Chan AK, Cheung AH, Chow C, Xu D, Wang S, Huang B, Liang L, Ke H, Wong CC, Wu WK, Cheng AS, Yu J, Lo KW, To KF, Kang W*. The E2F1-HOXB9/PBX2-CDK6 axis drives gastric tumorigenesis and serves as a therapeutic target in gastric cancer. Journal of Pathology. 2023 Jun 5. doi: 10.1002/path.6091

5 Wang Y#, Chen H#, Liu W, Yan H, Zhang Y, Cheung AHK, Zhang J, Chen B, Liang L, Zhou Z, Wong CC, Wu WKK, Chan MWY, Cheng ASL, Ma BBY, Yu J, Lo KW, To KF*, Kang W*. MCM6 is a critical transcriptional target of YAP to promote gastric tumorigenesis and serves as a therapeutic target. Theranostics. 2022; 12(15):6509-6526