Wei KANG (康伟) MM, MB, PhD (CUHK)weikang@cuhk.edu.hkDr. Kang is currently an Assistant Professor in Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Faculty of Medicine. He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine degree in Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Wuhan) in 2001, followed by a 5-year forensic pathology and clinical pathology training in Southern Medical University (Guangzhou). In 2010, he got the 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. During the past years, Dr. Kang has engaged himself in active gastric cancer research in State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology and State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease. Dr. Kang has been supported by RGC-GRF, NSFC, CUHK direct grant and has published more than 80 papers on peer-reviewed international journals such as Clinical Cancer Research, Molecular Cancer, Oncogene, and Journal of Pathology.

Dr. Kang serves as an Associate Editor for Molecular Cancer (IF: 15.302) and reviewer for more than 100 journals (total review times > 300). Meanwhile he is a supervisor of PhD/MPhil/MSc students in CUHK.

Research Interests:
The Hippo-YAP1 pathway and its crosstalks 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) (2012)
CUHK Direct Grant for Research (2019, 2018, 2017, 2015)

Journal Editorship:
Associate Editor: Molecular Cancer (2017-Present) (IF: 15.302)

Journal publications (h-index: 25)
Researcher ID (C-5451-2016): http://www.researcherid.com/rid/C-5451-2016
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4651-677X
Total publications: 83; as first (or co-) or corresponding (or co-) author publications: 36




Ten selected publications: 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

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

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

Zhang J, Zhou Y, Huang T, Wu F, Pan Y, Dong Y, Wang Y, Chan AKY, Liu L, Kwan JSH, Cheung AHK, Wong CC, Lo AKF, Cheng ASL, Yu J, Lo KW, Kang W (co-corresponding), To KF. FGF18, a prominent player in FGF signaling, promotes gastric tumorigenesis through autocrine manner and is negatively regulated by miR-590-5p. Oncogene. 2019 Jan;38(1):33-46

Huang T, Zhou Y, Zhang J, Wong CC, Li W, Kwan JSH, Yang R, Chan AKY, Dong Y, Wu F, Zhang B, Cheung AHK, Wu WKK, Cheng ASL, Yu J, Wong N, Kang W (co-corresponding), To KF. SRGAP1, a crucial target of miR-340 and miR-124, functions as a potential oncogene in gastric tumorigenesis. Oncogene. 2018 Mar;37(9):1159-1174

Zhou Y, Huang T, Zhang J, Wong CC, Zhang B, Dong Y, Wu F, Tong JHM, Wu WKK, Cheng ASL, Yu J, Kang W (co-corresponding), To KF. TEAD1/4 exerts oncogenic role and is negatively regulated by miR-4269 in gastric tumorigenesis. Oncogene. 2017 Nov 23;36(47):6518-6530

Zhou Y, Huang T, Siu HL, Wong CC, Dong Y, Wu F, Zhang B, Wu WK, Cheng AS, Yu J, To KF, Kang W (co-corresponding). IGF2BP3 functions as a potential oncogene and is a crucial target of miR-34a in gastric carcinogenesis. Molecular Cancer. 2017 Apr 11;16(1):77

Huang T, Kang W (co-first and co-corresponding), Zhang B, Wu F, Dong Y, Tong JH, Yang W, Zhou Y, Zhang L, Cheng AS, Yu J, To KF. miR-508-3p concordantly silences NFKB1 and RELA to inactivate canonical NF-κB signaling in gastric carcinogenesis. Molecular Cancer. 2016 Jan 22;15(1):9

Kang W, Tong JH, Lung RW, Dong Y, Zhao J, Liang Q, Zhang L, Pan Y, Yang W, Pang JC, Cheng AS, Yu J, To KF. Targeting of YAP1 by microRNA-15a and microRNA-16-1 exerts tumor suppressor function in gastric adenocarcinoma. Molecular Cancer. 2015 Feb 22;14(1):52

Kang W (co-first), Tong JH, Chan AW, Lee TL, Lung RW, Leung PP, So KK, Wu K, Fan D, Yu J, Sung JJ, To KF. Yes-associated protein 1 exhibits oncogenic property in gastric cancer and its nuclear accumulation associates with poor prognosis. Clinical Cancer Research. 2011:17(8):2130-9