Rong Wang, Ph.D. is Professor of Surgery and Director of the Wang Lab. Previously, Dr. Wang had the distinction of being a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Michael Bishop, MD, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Chancellor of UCSF. Dr. Wang's team is engaged in state-of-the-art research involving key proteins necessary for blood vessel growth (angiogenesis) and arterial growth (arteriogenesis). They have found that the Notch 4 protein can cause dramatic blood vessel enlargement in adult animals and that the protein called focal adhesion kinase is essential for maintaining existing blood vessel structure. The ability to encourage the growth of blood vessels can increase healing in traumatic wounds, promote recovery from strokes and heart attacks, or generate the growth of new pathways around blocked arteries in the lower limbs to reduce the potential of gangrene and possible amputation.