Wang Chang-yi (; born December 19, 1951) is a Taiwanese

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

and immunologist. She is the founder of United Biomedical, Inc. (UBI), headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, and its group of companies in Asia (including United Biomedical Asia h.

Early life and education

Wang was born in Taiwan in 1951. Her father was a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. She was inspired by physicist

Chien-Shiung Wu Chien-Shiung Wu ( zh, t=吳健雄, p=Wú Jiànxióng, w=Wu2 Chien4-Hsiung2; May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997) was a Chinese-American particle physics, particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nucle ...

, who disproved the ‘conservation of parity’ theory in 1957, to go into science. She graduated with honors from

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

with a bachelor's degree in

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

in 1973. After graduating from National Taiwan University, Chang completed graduate studies in the United States at

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and pro ...

, where she was the first Asian woman in its graduate program. She earned her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1979 with a dual specialization in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

and

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

. As a graduate student, she was mentored by

Bruce Merrifield Robert Bruce Merrifield (July 15, 1921 – May 14, 2006) was an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1984 for the invention of solid phase peptide synthesis. Early life He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on 15 July 1921, t ...

Henry Kunkel Henry George Kunkel (September 9, 1916 in Brooklyn – 15 December 1983) was an American immunologist, known for his discoveries in basic immunology research, especially his contribution to the development of clinical immunology. He has been ...

Gerald Edelman Gerald Maurice Edelman (; July 1, 1929 – May 17, 2014) was an American biologist who shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work with Rodney Robert Porter on the immune system. Edelman's Nobel Prize-winning research conc ...

and Ralph Steinman. She then joined the

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute– designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is ...

as the youngest faculty member, principal investigator, and head of the molecular immunology laboratory.

Career

In 1985, Wang and her husband Nean Hu founded United Biomedical, Inc. in New York, a company focusing on medicine and vaccine development. She founded United Biomedical, Inc. Asia in Taiwan in 1998. She later founded United Biopharma and UBI Pharma in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The companies later created testing for

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

and

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...

, and carried out research on a vaccine for HIV. Wang is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific publications and by 2019, she was the inventor of more than 80 patents.

Awards

In 2007, the

New York Intellectual Property Law Association The New York Intellectual Property Law Association, also known as NYIPLA, is a professional association composed primarily of experienced lawyers interested in intellectual property law. NYIPLA has a membership base of more than 1,500 intellectual ...

(NYIPLA) presented Wang with the Inventor of the Year Award. In 2009, the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be List of wealthiest charitable foundations, the third largest char ...

awarded Grand Challenges Exploration Grants to Wang for the Synthetic Peptides to Inhibit HIV Entry program. In 2018, the

Brain Mapping Foundation The Brain Mapping Foundation is a neuroscience organization established in 2004 by Babak Kateb to advance the cross-pollination of ideas across physical sciences into biological sciences and neuroscience. The organization provides funding to the ...

presented Wang with the Pioneer in Technology Award.

Legal case

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.

Family

Wang’s daughter Mei Mei Hu is the co-founder and CEO of Vaxxinity (originally named Covaxx), a subsidiary of UBI; the company originally focused on possible vaccines for

Alzheimer’s Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems with ...

and animal health but shifted to working on a vaccine for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. The company helped to develop vaccine candidate

UB-612 UB-612 is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by , and Vaxxinity, Inc. It is a peptide vaccine. It is composed of SARS-CoV-2 S1-RBD protein and synthetic peptides representing T cell ( Th and CTL) epitopes on the nucleocapsid, spike and ...

.PR Newswire website, article dated July 15, 2020
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Professional and honorary affiliations

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

, United States *

(Adjunct Professor) *

National Tsing Hua University National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) is a public research university in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It was first founded in Beijing. After the Chinese Civil War, president Mei Yiqi and other academics relocated with the retreating Nationalist government to ...

(Adjunct Professor)

References

External links

United Biomedical, Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Chang Yi 1951 births Living people Writers from Taipei Taiwanese women scientists Taiwanese immunologists Taiwanese emigrants to the United States National Taiwan University alumni Rockefeller University alumni 21st-century science writers 21st-century Taiwanese scientists 21st-century Taiwanese women 20th-century Taiwanese scientists 20th-century Taiwanese women 21st-century Taiwanese women writers 21st-century Taiwanese writers 20th-century Taiwanese women writers 20th-century Taiwanese writers