Scientists / Our Scientists

Weiru Wang

Senior Principal Scientist (Technology), Structural Biology

Postdoc Mentor

Years at Genentech

Publications

I started my lab at Genentech in June 2007. Being a scientist at Genentech is both exciting and challenging. I enjoy having the privilege of collaborating with many extremely talented colleagues. Together, we harness opportunities to discover basic science and to translate them into innovative medicine that we hope can make a difference in patients’ lives. My lab has interests in understanding the molecular basis of protein-drug interactions using biophysical methods, primarily macromolecular crystallography. At Genentech, our drug discovery efforts aim at tackling protein targets with “atomic precision”. My lab’s research provides structural insights into disease-related biological molecules, and enables structure-based design of small-molecule and antibody drugs.

Prior to Genentech, I was a senior scientist in Structural Biology at Plexxikon, a biotech start-up in Berkeley, CA, where I worked on drug discovery programs for cancer and metabolic disorder. Prior to Plexxikon, I was a staff scientist in the Physical Biosciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where I worked on structural genomics projects.

Featured Publication

Small-molecule ligands bind to a distinct pocket in RAS and inhibit nucleotide exchange activity.

(2012) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 109(14):5299-304

Maurer T, Garrenton LS, Oh A, Pitts K, Anderson DJ, Skelton NJ, Fauber BP, Pan B, Malek S, Stokoe D, Ludlam MJ, Bowman KK, Wu J, Giannetti AM, Starovasnik MA, Mellman I, Jackson PK, Rudolph J, Wang W, Fang G.

View Abstract

My lab’s research activities are focused on the structure determination of drug targets, mostly in the field of oncology and neurodegeneration.

Co-crystallography is vital to structure-based drug design. We collaborate with Medicinal Chemistry and Antibody Engineering on multiple drug discovery projects.

On the basic research side, we have interests in gaining structural insights into biological molecules and molecular assemblies with therapeutic importance. We expect that such knowledge can provide the basis for developing future drug discovery strategy.

We also play a critical role in technology development. An important aspect of my lab’s activity is to improve and implement the high-throughput crystallography platform within the Structural Biology Department.

Targeting KRAS Mutant Cancers via Combination Treatment: Discovery of a Pyridopyridazinone pan-RAF Kinase Inhibitor

ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, ISSN: 19485875

Malcolm P. Huestis; Matthew Durk; Eigenbrot; Paul Gibbons; Thomas Hunsaker; Hank La; Dennis H. Leung; Wendy Liu; Shiva Malek; Mark Merchant; John Moffat; Christine S. Muli; Christine Orr; Brendan T. Parr; Frances Shanahan; Chris J. Sneeringer; Weiru Wang; Ivana Yen; Jianping Yin; Joachim Rudolph; Michael Siu

Attention: This page may not render properly. The browser you are using, Internet Explorer 10, is no longer supported.

We are actively responding to the global COVID-19 pandemic. For more, please visit our COVID-19 response page, or call 1-877-436-3683. See the latest update on Actemra® (tocilizumab) supply here.

Weiru Wang

Senior Principal Scientist (Technology), Structural Biology

Featured Publication

Small-molecule ligands bind to a distinct pocket in RAS and inhibit nucleotide exchange activity.