Wei-Jen Chang
Winslow Chair of Modern Science and Professor of Biology
Wei-Jen Chang, professor of biology, has written or co-written several professional articles in Gene, Protist, Molecular Biology and Evolution and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. During his postdoctoral work at Princeton University, Chang studied gene evolution and genome organization in unicellular organisms.
He joined the 51ÁÔÆæ faculty in 2006. Chang earned a bachelor’s degree from National Taiwan University and his master’s degree and doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Recent Courses Taught
Introduction to Bioinformatics
Biochemistry
Introductory Biology
Research Interests
Genetic diversities in the fish parasite Ichthyophthirius multifiliis
Genome organizations in parasitic ciliates
Gene regulation in a nuclear dualism system
Evolution and function of transposons
Distinctions
- The Class of 1963 Faculty Fellowship, 51ÁÔÆæ, 2014
- Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award, Characterizing gene expression networks in fish parasite Ichthyophthirius multifiliis by using novel mathematical algorithms, 2011
- National Science Foundation (MRI-R2), Acquisition of a High Performance Computing cluster with a fast interconnect to enable shared-use, college-wide computational investigations at 51ÁÔÆæ, 2009
- The Class of 1966 Career Development Award, 51ÁÔÆæ, 2009
- Dean’s Award, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2000
- Mark Diamond Fund, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1999
- Graduate assistant scholarship, Department of Microbiology, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1994
- The President’s Award, National Taiwan University, 1990
Selected Publications
- Chi H., Taik P., Foley EJ., Racicot A.C., Gray H.M., Guzzetta K.E., Lin H.Y., Song Y.L., Tung C.H., Zenke K., Yoshinaga T., Cheng C.Y., Chang W.J., Gong H. (2017) "High genetic diversities between isolates of the fish parasite Cryptocaryon irritans (Ciliophora) suggest multiple cryptic species." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 112:47-52.
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K. E. Zaila, D. Cho, W.J. Chang. (2016). "Interactions Between Parasitic Ciliates and Their Hosts: Ichthyophthirius multifiliis and Cryptocaryon irritans as Examples." Biocommunication of Ciliates pp 327-350.
- E.C. Swart, J.R. Bracht, V. Magrini, P. Minx, X. Chen, Y. Zhou, J.S. Khurana, A.D. Goldman, M. Nowacki, K. Schotanus, S. Jung, R.S. Fulton, A. Ly, S. McGrath, K. Haub, J.L. Buckles, D. Storton, J.C. Matese, L. Parsons, W.-J Chang, M.S. Bowen, N.A. Stover, T.A. Jones, S.R. Eddy, G.A. Herrick, T.G. Doak, R.K. Wilson, E.R. Mardis, L.F. Landweber. (2013) "The Oxytricha trifallax macronuclear genome: A complex eukaryotic genome with 16,000 tiny chromosomes," PLoS Biology 11(1):e1001473.
- K. Xu, T.G. Doak, H.J. Lipps, J. Wang, E.C. Swart and W.-J. Chang. (2012) "Copy number variations of 11 macronuclear chromosomes and their gene expression in Oxytricha trifallax,"Gene 505(1): 75-80.
- M. Mollenbeck, Y. Zhou, A.R.O. Cavalcanti, F. Jonsson, B.P. Higgins, W.-J. Chang, S. Juranek, T.G. Doak, G. Rozenberg, H.J. Lipps, L.F. Landweber. (2008) "The pathway to detangle scrambled genes," PLoS One 3(6):e2330.
- W.-J. Chang, V.M. Addis, A.J. Li, E. Axelsson, D.H. Ardell, L.F. Landweber. (2007) "Intron evolution and information processing in the DNA polymerase alpha gene in spirotrichous ciliates: A hypothesis for interconversion between DNA and RNA deletion," Biology Direct 2:6.
- W.-J. Chang, S. Kuo, L.F. Landweber. (2006) "A new scrambled gene in the ciliate Uroleptus," Gene 368:72-7.
- C.P. McFarland*, W.-J. Chang*, S. Kuo, L.F. Landweber. (2006) "Conserved linkage of two genes on the same macronuclear chromosome in spirotrichous ciliates," Chromosoma 115(2):129-138.
- S. Kuo, W.-J. Chang, L.F. Landweber. (2006) "Complex germline architecture: two genes intertwined on two loci," Molecular Biology and Evolution 23(1) 4-6.
- J.-J. Pan, W.-J. Chang, T.A. Barone, R.J. Plunkett, P.T. Ostrow, S.J. Greenberg. (2006) "Increased expression of TGFß-1 reduces tumor growth of human U-87 glioblastoma cells invivo," Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy 55(8): 918-927.
- G. Heyse, F. Jönsson, W.-J. Chang, H.J. Lipps. (2010) "RNA-dependent control of gene amplification," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107(51):22134-9.
- J. Postberg, S. Forcob, W.-J. Chang, H.J. Lipps. (2010) "The evolutionary history of histone H3 suggests a deep eukaryotic root of chromatin modifying mechanisms," BMC Evol Biol 10:259.
- G. Ricard, R.M. de Graaf, B.E. Dutilh, I. Duarte, T.A. van Alen, A.H. van Hoek, B. Boxma, G.W.M. van der Staay, S.Y.M. van der Staay, W.-J. Chang, L.F. Landweber, J. Hackstein, M.A. Huynen. (2008) "Macronuclear genome structure of the ciliate Nyctotherus ovalis: Single-gene chromosomes and tiny introns," BMC Genomics 9(1):587.
- W.-J. Chang, P.D. Bryson, H. Liang, M.K. Shin, L.F. Landweber. (2005) "The evolutionary origin of a complex scrambled gene," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102(42): 15149-54.
- W.-J. Chang, N.A. Stover, V.M. Addis, L.F. Landweber. (2004) "A micronuclear locus containing three protein-coding genes remains linked during macronuclear development in the spirotrichous ciliate Holosticha," Protist 155:245-255.
College Service
Acting chair, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology Program, 2008-09
Appointed to the Faculty
2006Educational Background
Postdoctoral fellow, Princeton University
Ph.D., State Univeristy of New York at Buffalo
M.Sc., State Univeristy of New York at Buffalo
B.Sc., National Taiwan University
