Han-Chung Wu Teacher-Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica

Professional ExperienceOpenClose

2020-: Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica

2019-: Director, National Biotechnology Research Park/Biomedical Translation Research Center (BioTReC), Academia Sinica

2019-: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), National Biotechnology Research Park/BioHub Taiwan

2016- 2018: Director, Department of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer, Academia Sinica

2010-: Professor,Institute of Pathology, National Taiwan University

2010-2020: Research Fellow, Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica

2017- 2018: Acting Director, Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica

2010-2016: Vice Director in Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica

1993: Ph.D. Institute of Pathology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Research InterestOpenClose

Dr. Han-Chung Wu is currently a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. He is also a Professor at the College of Medicine of the National Taiwan University. His research primarily focuses on two fields, cancer research and infectious diseases, and includes components of both basic research and applied science. Dr. Wu's research interest focuses on the identification of novel tumor antigens and study their functional roles in tumorigenesis, development of targeting drug delivery systems for cancer therapy and molecular imaging. He has developed phage display technologies that have been used for the generation of fully human monoclonal antibodies and the identification of peptides for a variety of target molecules. To date, Dr. Wu has published over 125 original articles in world-renowned journals, and 117 Patents (including 80 granted patents and 37 filed patents). He has successfully licensed out 20 technologies from 68 patents to biotech companies. Seven of the licensed technologies serve as the basis for products that are currently in clinical trials or already on the market. Seven of the licensed technologies are currently in preclinical studies for the development of therapeutics. Hence, his research results not only have significant value in basic research, but also practical applications with tangible contributions to the development of the biotech industry and drug development. Dr. Wu was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) of the United States in 2020. This is among the highest achievable honors for an academic inventor. Recently, Dr. Wu’s group has generated many monoclonal antibodies against the spike and NP proteins of SARS-CoV-2. Some of these monoclonal antibodies have been applied in COVID-19 antigen and IgG/IgM rapid tests with high sensitivity and specificity, two of which were approved by the Taiwan FDA. In addition, the group has also successfully developed therapeutic antibodies for COVID-19. These therapeutic antibodies target distinct epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and can be used in combination to increase therapeutic efficacy and decrease the potential for virus escape mutants. These novel antibodies exhibit high SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing potency and great potential for use against common mutation variants in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

Selected PublicationOpenClose

1: Li, H. J., Ke, F. Y., Lin, C.C., Lu, M. Y., Kuo, Y. H., Wang, Y. P., Lin, S. C., Chang, Y. H., Chen, H. Y., Yang, P. C. and Wu, H. C.* (2021). ENO1 promotes lung cancer metastasis via HGFR and WNT signaling-driven epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Cancer Research. (Accepted)

2: Su, S. C., Yang, T. J., Yu, P. Y., Liang, K. H., Chen, W. Y., Yang, C. W., Lin, H. T., Wang, M. J., Lu, R. M., Tso, H. C., Chung, M. J., Hsieh, T. Y., Chang, Y. L., Lin, S. C., Hsu, F. Y., Ke, F. Y., Wu, Y. H., Hwang, Y. C., Liu, I. J., Liang, J. J., Liao, C. C., Ko, Y. H., Sun, C. P., Wu, P. Y., Jan, J. T., Chang, Y. C., Lin, Y. L., Tao, M. H., Hsu, S. T., and Wu, H. C.* (2021). Structure-guided antibody cocktail for prevention and treatment of COVID-19. PLoS Pathogens. (Accepted)

3: Guo, J. Y., Liu, I. J., Lin, H. T., Wang, M. J., Chang, Y. L., Lin, S. C., Liao, M. Y., Hsu, W. C., Lin, Y. L., Liao, J. C. and Wu, H. C.* (2021). Identification of COVID-19 B-cell epitopes with phage-displayed peptide library. Journal of Biomedical Science 28, 43.

4: Chen, H. N., Liang, K. H., Lai, J. K., Lan, C. H., Liao, M. Y. Hung, S. H., Chuang, Y. T. and Wu, H. C.* (2020). EpCAM signaling promotes tumor progression and protein stability of PD-L1 through EGFR pathway. Cancer Research 80, 5035-5050.

5: Ke, F. Y., Chen, W. Y., Lin, M. C., Hwang, Y. C., Kuo, K. T. and Wu, H. C.* (2020). Novel monoclonal antibody against integrin α3 shows therapeutic potential for ovarian cancer. Cancer Science 111, 3478-3492.

6: Wang, Y. P., Liu, I. J., Chung, M. J. and Wu, H. C.* (2020). Novel anti-EGFR scFv human antibody-conjugated immunoliposomes enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy in squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck. Oral Oncology 106, 104689.

7: Lu, R. M., Hwang, Y. C., Liu, I. J., Lee, C. C., Tsai, H. Z., Li, H. Z. and Wu, H. C.* (2020). Development of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of diseases. Journal of Biomedical Science 17:1.

8: Lu, R. M., Chiu, C. Y., Liu, I. J., Chang, Y. L., Liu, Y. J. and Wu, H. C.* (2019). Novel human antibody against VEGFR2 shows therapeutic potential for leukemia and prostate cancer. Cancer Science 110, 3773-3787.

9: Kuan, I. I., Chen, C. H., Lu, J. and Wu, H. C.* (2019). The extracellular domain of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) enhances multipotency of mesenchymal stem cells through EGFR-LIN28-LET7 signaling. Journal of Biological Chemistry 294, 7769-7786.

10: Huang, J. R., Lee, M. H., Li, W. S. and Wu, H. C.* (2019). Liposomal irinotecan for treatment of colorectal cancer in a preclinical model. Cancers 11, 281.

Han-Chung Wu｜ Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica

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