Alumna receives Best Paper Award for anti-cancer drug research

Alumna Yaohua Wang, who received her doctorate in analytical chemistry in 2010 under the tutelage of Professor Edgar Arriaga, has received the Best Paper Award 2012 presented by Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (ABC). The award, accompanied by 1,000 euros, was created to honor exceptional young scientists and to stimulate their research careers. Wang received this award at Pittcon 2013, which was conducted March 17-21, in Pennsylvania.

According to the ABC website: "Wang is the lead author of a paper published in ABC on a method to isolate peroxisomes with biological function from other cellular organelles. Her research could lead to further developments in the investigation of the anticancer drug doxorubicin. . . . One of the major focuses of Yaohua Wang’s research is the investigation of the subcellar distribution and metabolism of doxorubicin (DOX). DOX is effective in the treatment of hematological malignancies and cancers localized in solid tissues, however use of this drug is impaired by its side effects which may be associated with subcellular-specific accumulation of DOX metabolites. The most notorious side effect of DOX is cardiotoxicity, which is irreversible. Up to now, no one has investigated the accumulation and metabolism of DOX in peroxisomes. The investigation of DOX metabolism in peroxisomes provides a more comprehensive view of DOX toxicity in cells and is an indispensable part of Dr. Wang’s research."

In 2008-2009, Wang received the Merck Research Laboratories Fellowship in Analytical/Physical Chemistry to recognize her outstanding research work. She is a senior analytical chemist at Henkel of America.

Yaohua Wang is pictured with her doctoral adviser Professor Edgar Arriaga.