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 Prof. To’s laboratory. 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 100 papers in peer-reviewed international journals such as Molecular Cancer, Clinical Cancer Research, Theranostics, Oncogene, and Journal of Pathology.

Dr. Kang serves as an Associate Editor for Molecular Cancer (IF: 41.444) and reviewer for more than 130 journals (total review times > 400). 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 (2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014)

Journal Editorship:
Associate Editor: Molecular Cancer (2017-Present) (IF: 41.444)

Journal publications (h-index: 33)
Researcher ID: https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/1566392
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4651-677X
Total publications: 104; as first (or co-) or corresponding (or co-) author publications: 40

1 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 (co-corresponding). MCM6 is a critical transcriptional target of YAP to promote gastric tumorigenesis and serves as a therapeutic target. Theranostics 2022; 12(15):6509-6526

2 Chen B, Chan WN, Mui CW, Liu X, Zhang J, Wang Y, Cheung AHK, Chan AKY, Chan RCK, Leung KT, Dong Y, Pan Y, Ke H, Liang L, Zhou Z, Wong CC, Wu WKK, Cheng ASL, Yu J, Lo KW, To KF, Kang W (co-corresponding). STK3 promotes gastric carcinogenesis by activating Ras-MAPK mediated cell cycle progression and serves as an independent prognostic biomarker. Molecular Cancer. 2021 Nov 12;20(1):147

3 Kang W (co-first and co-corresponding), Zhang J, Huang T, Zhou Y, Wong CC, Chan RCK, Dong Y, Wu F, Zhang B, Wu WKK, Chan MWY, Cheng ASL, Yu J, Wong N, Lo KW, To KF. NOTCH3, a crucial target of miR-491-5p/miR-875-5p, promotes gastric carcinogenesis by upregulating PHLDB2 expression and activating Akt pathway. Oncogene. 2021 Jan 15. doi: 10.1038/s41388-020-01579-3

4 Zhang J, Wong CC, Leung KT, Wu F, Zhou Y, Tong JHM, Chan RCK, Li H, Wang Y, Yan H, Liu L, Wu WKK, Chan MWY, Cheng ASL, Yu J, Wong N, Lo KW, To KF, Kang W (co-corresponding). FGF18-FGFR2 signaling triggers the activation of c-Jun-YAP1 axis to promote carcinogenesis in a subgroup of gastric cancer patients and indicates translational potential. Oncogene. 2020 Oct;39(43):6647-6663

5 Zhou Y, Zhang J, Li H, Huang T, Wong CC, Wu F, Wu M, Weng N, Liu L, Cheng ASL, Yu J, Wong N, Lo KW, Tang PMK, Kang W (co-corresponding), To KF. AMOTL1 enhances YAP1 stability and promotes YAP1-driven gastric oncogenesis. Oncogene. 2020 May;39(22):4375-4389