Yuan Chang
Encyclopedia
Yuan Chang is an American virologist and pathologist who co-discovered Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus
(KSHV) and Merkel cell polyomavirus
, two of the seven known human cancer viruses.
She was born in Taipei, Taiwan and moved to the United States as a young child. She was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah
and received an MD from the University of Utah
College of Medicine. In 1994, she co-discovered KSHV
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06EED61338F933A15751C1A962958260&scp=41&sq=moore+chang&st=nyt, also called human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8), working with her husband Patrick S. Moore
at Columbia University
. Chang trained in neuropathology at Stanford University
under the noted clinical neuropathologist, Dikran Houroupian, publishing studies on eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome
and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
. She moved to Columbia University to pursue her first academic appointment as a clinician-scientist. Although initially interested in using representational difference analysis
to study the genetic origins of brain tumors, she applied this technique to Kaposi's sarcoma
resulting in the discovery of this new human tumor virus. Drs. Chang, Moore and collaborators subsequently showed that this virus was the etiologic agent of Kaposi's sarcoma
and primary effusion lymphoma
, while others showed it to be the cause of some forms of multicentric Castleman's disease
. From two small DNA fragments representing less than 1% of the viral genome, she cloned the entire KSHV 165 kbase genome and fully sequenced the virus genome within two years after its initial discovery http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=8962146&query_hl=6&itool=pubmed_docsum. This led to blood tests to detect infection for this virus, discovery of viral proteins likely to cause cancer and elucidation of the role of immune evasion in carcinogenesis caused by virus infection http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.micro.57.030502.090824?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
Most recently, Chang and Moore's laboratory developed a new method for finding human cancer viruses called digital transcriptome subtraction, or DTS http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/full/81/20/11332?view=long&pmid=17686852. Together with their colleagues Huichen Feng and Masahiro Shuda, they used this technique to discover Merkel cell polyomavirus
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1152586?ijkey=sEE8C3q3jtnyw&keytype=ref&siteid=scihttp://www.pnas.org/content/105/42/16272, the likely cause for most Merkel cell carcinoma
.
Dr. Chang is now the American Cancer Society Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh
. She has received a number of awards for her work, including the Meyenburg Foundation Award for Cancer Research, the Robert Koch Prize
, The Sloan-Kettering Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research,http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/53983.cfm the New York City Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Science & Technology, the General Motors Charles S. Mott Prize
in Cancer Research, the Carnegie Science Award and an American Cancer Society Research Professorship.
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus is one of seven currently known human cancer viruses, or oncoviruses. It is also the eighth human herpesvirus; its formal name according to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses is HHV-8. Like other herpesviruses, its informal name is used...
(KSHV) and Merkel cell polyomavirus
Merkel cell polyomavirus
Merkel cell polyomavirus was first described in January 2008. MCV is one of seven known human tumor viruses. It is suspected to cause the majority of cases of Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare but aggressive form of skin cancer. Approximately 80% of Merkel cell carcinoma tumors have been found to be...
, two of the seven known human cancer viruses.
She was born in Taipei, Taiwan and moved to the United States as a young child. She was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and received an MD from the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
College of Medicine. In 1994, she co-discovered KSHV
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus is one of seven currently known human cancer viruses, or oncoviruses. It is also the eighth human herpesvirus; its formal name according to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses is HHV-8. Like other herpesviruses, its informal name is used...
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06EED61338F933A15751C1A962958260&scp=41&sq=moore+chang&st=nyt, also called human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8), working with her husband Patrick S. Moore
Patrick S. Moore
Patrick S. Moore is an American virologist and epidemiologist who co-discovered together with his wife, Yuan Chang, two different human viruses causing the AIDS-related cancer Kaposi's sarcoma and the skin cancer Merkel cell carcinoma...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Chang trained in neuropathology at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
under the noted clinical neuropathologist, Dikran Houroupian, publishing studies on eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome
Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome
Eosinophilia–myalgia syndrome is an incurable and sometimes fatal flu-like neurological condition that is believed to have been caused by ingestion of poorly produced L-tryptophan supplements...
and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy , also known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalitis, is a rare and usually fatal viral disease that is characterized by progressive damage or inflammation of the white matter of the brain at multiple locations .It occurs almost exclusively in...
. She moved to Columbia University to pursue her first academic appointment as a clinician-scientist. Although initially interested in using representational difference analysis
Representational Difference Analysis
Representational Difference Analysis is a technique used in biological research to find sequence differences in two genomic or cDNA samples. Genomes or cDNA sequences from two samples are PCR amplified and differences analyzed using subtractive DNA hybridization...
to study the genetic origins of brain tumors, she applied this technique to Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 , also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus . It was originally described by Moritz Kaposi , a Hungarian dermatologist practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872. It became more widely known as one of the AIDS defining...
resulting in the discovery of this new human tumor virus. Drs. Chang, Moore and collaborators subsequently showed that this virus was the etiologic agent of Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 , also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus . It was originally described by Moritz Kaposi , a Hungarian dermatologist practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872. It became more widely known as one of the AIDS defining...
and primary effusion lymphoma
Primary effusion lymphoma
-Causes:It is caused by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus , also known as human herpesvirus 8 .In most cases, the lymphoma cells are also infected with Epstein Barr virus ....
, while others showed it to be the cause of some forms of multicentric Castleman's disease
Castleman's disease
Castleman's disease is an uncommon lymphoproliferative disorder that can involve single lymph node stations or...
. From two small DNA fragments representing less than 1% of the viral genome, she cloned the entire KSHV 165 kbase genome and fully sequenced the virus genome within two years after its initial discovery http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=8962146&query_hl=6&itool=pubmed_docsum. This led to blood tests to detect infection for this virus, discovery of viral proteins likely to cause cancer and elucidation of the role of immune evasion in carcinogenesis caused by virus infection http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.micro.57.030502.090824?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
Most recently, Chang and Moore's laboratory developed a new method for finding human cancer viruses called digital transcriptome subtraction, or DTS http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/full/81/20/11332?view=long&pmid=17686852. Together with their colleagues Huichen Feng and Masahiro Shuda, they used this technique to discover Merkel cell polyomavirus
Merkel cell polyomavirus
Merkel cell polyomavirus was first described in January 2008. MCV is one of seven known human tumor viruses. It is suspected to cause the majority of cases of Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare but aggressive form of skin cancer. Approximately 80% of Merkel cell carcinoma tumors have been found to be...
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1152586?ijkey=sEE8C3q3jtnyw&keytype=ref&siteid=scihttp://www.pnas.org/content/105/42/16272, the likely cause for most Merkel cell carcinoma
Merkel cell carcinoma
Merkel cell carcinoma Merkel cell carcinoma Merkel cell carcinoma (also known as a "Cutaneous apudoma," "Primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin," "Primary small cell carcinoma of the skin," and "Trabecular carcinoma of the skin"...
.
Dr. Chang is now the American Cancer Society Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
. She has received a number of awards for her work, including the Meyenburg Foundation Award for Cancer Research, the Robert Koch Prize
Robert Koch Prize
The Robert Koch Medal and Award are two prizes awarded annually for excellence in the biomedical sciences. These awards grew out of early attempts by Robert Koch to generate funding to support his research into the cause and cure for tuberculosis...
, The Sloan-Kettering Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research,http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/53983.cfm the New York City Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Science & Technology, the General Motors Charles S. Mott Prize
Charles S. Mott Prize
The $250,000 Charles S. Mott Prize was awarded annually by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation. The Mott Prize was one of a trio scientific prizes entirely devoted to cancer research . They were generally considered the most prestigious awards in cancer research...
in Cancer Research, the Carnegie Science Award and an American Cancer Society Research Professorship.