Dr Conan Wang

Innovations in drug discovery are essential for improving patient outcomes, especially in lung cancer, one of the most difficult cancers to treat.

The process of identifying the right drug is very complex due to the vastness of chemical space—far more challenging than finding a needle in a haystack.

We believe that discovering better drugs depends on the ability to engineer molecules and control their function with greater speed and precision. To design drugs that are more selective, effective, and exquisitely potent, we are driving innovation across three technological pillars—computational biology, molecular libraries, and nanotechnology.

Computational Biology: We use computational algorithms to predict drug properties with unprecedented accuracy
Molecular Biology: We use molecular libraries capable of screening through billions of drug leads to design drugs efficiently
Nanotechnology: Nano-sized reaction droplets to capture drug activity to make drugs that actually work

We will apply technological developments to peptides and proteins, molecules that are naturally able to bind targets with exquisite specificity.

Group leader

Dr Conan Wang

Group Leader, Technology-driven drug discovery

+61 7 334 62014
c.wang@imb.uq.edu.au
UQ Experts Profile

Computational design of targeted cancer therapeutics guided by machine learning

Principal advisor: Dr Conan Wang c.wang@imb.uq.edu.au

Opportunities are available to develop skills in drug discovery in computational biology and molecular biology. The aim is to accurately predict and quickly design new protein drugs to accelerate translation of new medicines. Please reach out if you would like to know more about drug design or potential projects.

Efficient design of drugs using new nanoscale technologies

Principal advisor: Dr Conan Wang c.wang@imb.uq.edu.au

Powerful technologies have emerged to perform millions of experiments quickly in tiny nanolitre droplets, and have attracted wide interest from major pharmaceutical companies because of the potential to accelerate drug discovery. Honours project opportunities are available to investigate these next-generation tools for drug design and learn new skills in one or more areas of nanotechnology and molecular biology.

Designing protein drugs for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases

Principal advisor: Dr Conan Wang c.wang@imb.uq.edu.au

Cytokines are signalling proteins that play essential roles in immune responses and have garnered clinical interest in the context of cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious disease. This project aims to overcome their limitations of poor stability, activity, and specificity to develop new therapeutics. Candidates will learn new skills in drug design and characterisation using tools in molecular biology, biochemistry, and structural biology.

Rational Design of Potent Peptide Inhibitors of the PD-1:PD-L1 Interaction for Cancer Immunotherapy.
Yin H, Zhou X, Huang YH, King GJ, Collins BM, Gao Y, Craik DJ, Wang CK.
J Am Chem Soc. 2021 Nov 10;143(44):18536-18547. doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c08132. Epub 2021 Oct 18.
PMID: 34661406
Improving Stability Enhances In Vivo Efficacy of a PCSK9 Inhibitory Peptide.
Zhang Y, Wang L, Tombling BJ, Lammi C, Huang YH, Li Y, Bartolomei M, Hong B, Craik DJ, Wang CK.
J Am Chem Soc. 2022 Oct 26;144(42):19485-19498. doi: 10.1021/jacs.2c08029. Epub 2022 Oct 12.
PMID: 36222719
Bioactive Cyclization Optimizes the Affinity of a Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9 (PCSK9) Peptide Inhibitor.
Tombling BJ, Lammi C, Lawrence N, Gilding EK, Grazioso G, Craik DJ, Wang CK.
J Med Chem. 2021 Mar 11;64(5):2523-2533. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01766. Epub 2020 Dec 23.
PMID: 33356222
Anchor Residues Guide Form and Function in Grafted Peptides.
Yin H, Craik DJ, Wang CK.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2019 Jun 3;58(23):7652-7656. doi: 10.1002/anie.201901572. Epub 2019 May 2.
PMID: 30916847
EGF-like and Other Disulfide-rich Microdomains as Therapeutic Scaffolds.
Tombling BJ, Wang CK, Craik DJ.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Jul 6;59(28):11218-11232. doi: 10.1002/anie.201913809. Epub 2020 Mar 2.
PMID: 31867866
Designing macrocyclic disulfide-rich peptides for biotechnological applications.
Wang CK, Craik DJ.
Nat Chem Biol. 2018 May;14(5):417-427. doi: 10.1038/s41589-018-0039-y. Epub 2018 Apr 16.
PMID: 29662187

Our approach

We use computational biology, molecular libraries, and nanotechnology to design better drugs for human benefit.

In the Wang group, our efforts are paving the way for more effective and targeted therapies by:

Designing highly selective therapies that empower the immune system to recognise and eliminate cancerous cells in the lungs, while preserving healthy tissue.
Developing resilient drugs that disrupt growth-promoting signals within cancer cells in ways that reduce resistance, helping to halt the spread of cancer.
Engineering advanced agents that can precisely locate and ‘paint’ every cancer cell in the body, enabling clinicians to detect and treat tumours with unprecedented resolution.