About me
Year
- PGY-1
Hometown
- New Haven, CT
Professional Interests
- Tumor
- Skull base
- Vascular
Future Plans
- Academics
Awards/Honors
- Best Poster Award, Washington University Department of Ophthalmology Annual Retreat
- Retina Research Foundation/Joseph M. and Eula C. Lawrence Travel Grant, ARVO Annual Meeting 2021
- Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship
- Tom Thach Award for Best Oral Presentation, Washington University Neuroscience Retreat
- Travel Grant, FASEB Retinal Neurobiology and Visual Processing Conference
- VitreoRetinal Surgery Foundation Research Fellowship
Memberships
- Phi Beta Kappa
Hobbies
- Cycling
- Hiking
- Sailing
- Cooking
Education
- BS, Rice University, 2016
- PhD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, 2026
- MD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, 2026
Publications
- Wang Z, Zhao C, Xu S, Zhao M, McCracken S, Apte RS, Williams PR. Energetic diversity in retinal ganglion cells is modulated by neuronal activity and correlates with resilience to degeneration. Nat Commun. 2026 [In Press]
- Han RH, Mao DD, Woodiwiss TR, Wang Z, Kim AH. Derivation of primary cell lines from patient tumor samples for in vitro and in vivo studies of malignant gliomas. (Chapter 2), Neuromethods, Vol. 226, Michael Goldstein (Eds): Translational Research Methods for Pediatric Brain Tumors (2025). Humana New York, NY.
- Hall AL, Zhao C, McCracken S, Zhao M, Wang Z, Santeford A, Apte RS, Williams PR. Identification of a natively resilient but poorly regenerating retinal ganglion cell type in the G protein-coupled receptor 88-Cre transgenic mouse. Neural Regen Res. 2025 Aug 13;10.4103/NRR.NRR-D-24-01270.
- McCracken S, Fitzpatrick MJ, Hall AL, Wang Z, Kerschensteiner D, Morgan JL, Williams PR. Diversity in homeostatic calcium set points predicts retinal ganglion cell survival following optic nerve injury in vivo. Cell Rep. 2023 Oct 31;42(10):113165.
- Wang Z, McCracken S, Williams PR. Transpupillary Two-photon In vivo Imaging of the Mouse Retina. J Vis Exp. 2021 Feb 13;(168):10.3791/61970.
- Wang Z*, Koenig AL*, Lavine KJ, Apte RS. Macrophage Plasticity and Function in the Eye and Heart. Trends Immunol. 2019 Sep;40(9):825-841. *Contributed equally
- Suh CY, Wang Z, Bártulos O, Qyang Y. Advancements in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Technology for Cardiac Regenerative Medicine. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol Ther. 2014 Jul;19(4):330-339.