Wang Chang-yi
Wang Chang-yi | |||||||||
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| 王長怡 | |||||||||
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| Born | December 19, 1951 | ||||||||
| Education | |||||||||
| Known for |
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| Scientific career | |||||||||
| Fields | Biochemistry Immunology | ||||||||
| Institutions |
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| Thesis | Structural and Functional Characterication of Surface Antigens on Human B Lymphocytes (1979) | ||||||||
| Doctoral advisor | Henry Kunkel | ||||||||
| Other academic advisors | |||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 王長怡 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 王长怡 | ||||||||
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Wang Chang-yi (Chinese: 王長怡; born December 19, 1951) is a Taiwanese biochemist and immunologist. She is the founder of United Biomedical, Inc. (UBI), headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, and its group of companies in Asia.
Early life and education
Wang was born in Taiwan in 1951.[1] Her father was a member of the National Assembly. She was inspired by physicist Chien-Shiung Wu, who disproved the ‘conservation of parity’ theory in 1957, to go into science.[2] She graduated with honors from National Taiwan University with a bachelor's degree in organic chemistry in 1973.
After graduating from National Taiwan University, Chang completed graduate studies in the United States at Rockefeller University, where she was the first Asian woman in its graduate program. She earned her Ph.D. in 1979 with a dual specialization in biochemistry and immunology. As a graduate student, she was mentored by Bruce Merrifield, Henry Kunkel, Gerald Edelman and Ralph Steinman.[2] She then joined the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as the youngest faculty member, principal investigator, and head of the molecular immunology laboratory.[3]
Career
In 1985, Wang and her husband Nean Hu founded United Biomedical, Inc. in New York, a company focusing on medicine and vaccine development.[4] She founded United Biomedical, Inc. Asia in Taiwan in 1998.[1] She later founded United Biopharma and UBI Pharma in 2013 and 2014 respectively.[5][6] The companies later created testing for HIV and Hepatitis C, and carried out research on a vaccine for HIV.[2]
Wang is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific publications and by 2019, she was the inventor of more than 80 patents.[7][8]
Awards
In 2007, the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA) presented Wang with the Inventor of the Year Award.[9]
In 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Grand Challenges Exploration Grants to Wang for the Synthetic Peptides to Inhibit HIV Entry program.[10]
In 2018, the Brain Mapping Foundation presented Wang with the Pioneer in Technology Award.[11]
Litigation
In 2021, Wang was part of a court case which concerned the ownership of UBI, in particular, possible breach of contractual agreements and misuse of authority positions.[12][13]
Family
Wang’s daughter Mei Mei Hu is the co-founder and CEO of Vaxxinity (originally named Covaxx), a subsidiary of UBI;[14] the company originally focused on possible vaccines for Alzheimer’s and animal health[15] but shifted to working on a vaccine for COVID-19. The company helped to develop vaccine candidate UB-612.[16][17]
Professional and honorary affiliations
- National Institutes of Health, United States
- National Taiwan University (Adjunct Professor)
- National Tsing Hua University (Adjunct Professor)
References
- ^ a b "王長怡×王瑞瑜 突破台灣生技盲點｜天下雜誌". 天下雜誌 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- ^ a b c Armstrong, Stephen. "A vaccine for Alzheimer's is on the verge of becoming a reality". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
- ^ "A vaccine for Alzheimer's is on the verge of becoming a reality". Wired UK. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ "人物側寫－8萬美元起家 王長怡 締造生技業奇蹟 - 財經要聞". 中時電子報 (in Chinese). April 26, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- ^ "About United BioPharma". www.unitedbiopharma.com. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ "UBI Pharma Company Overview". www.ubi-pharma.com. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ "Publication". www.unitedbiomedical.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- ^ "Chang Yi Wang Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com.
- ^ "United Biomedical, Inc. CEO Dr. Chang Yi Wang named Inventor of the Year 2007 by New York Intellectual Property Law Association". NewsRx. June 17, 2007. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
- ^ "Global Grand Challenges". gcgh.grandchallenges.org. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ "Pioneer in Technology Award". www.worldbrainmapping.org. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- ^ "Case 614745/2022 Dr. Chang Yi Wang V. United Biomedical, Inc., Mei Mei Hu, Louis Garfield Reese Iv, Johannes Aka Joop Sistermans, James Jie Chui - Trellis: Legal Intelligence + Judicial Analytics". Trellis.
- ^ "UNITED BIOMEDICAL, INC., et al vs. CHANG YI WANG, et al". UniCourt.
- ^ Parkins, Kezia (May 19, 2021). "Vaxxinity CEO Mei Mei Hu on vaccine research and democratising health".
- ^ "COVAXX Announces $2.8 Billion in Advance Purchase Commitments to Deliver More Than 140 Million Vaccine Doses to Emerging Countries".
- ^ Liao G (June 27, 2021). "Taiwan News website, Taiwan's second domestic COVID vaccine's midterm performance in phase II trials inferior to local competitor: experts". Taiwan News. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
- ^ "COVAXX Announces First Multitope Peptide-Based Vaccine to Enter Human Trials". www.prnewswire.com (Press release).