Athens, Ga. – Dr. Jia-Sheng Wang, a professor and head of the department of environmental health sciences in the University of Georgia College of Public Health, has been named the inaugural UGA Athletic Association Professor in Public Health.
The special appointment, recently approved by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, is funded by the UGA Athletic Association.
Wang has 35 years of research and teaching experience in toxicology, chemical carcinogenesis, molecular epidemiology and cancer chemoprevention. He is a Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Cancer Scientist and also serves as a faculty member in the UGA Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program, the UGA Cancer Center and the UGA Center for Food Safety.
“Dr. Wang’s exceptional international reputation, the result of his remarkable successes in research and teaching, has brought a great deal of prestige to both UGA and the College of Public Health,” said Phillip L. Williams, dean of the College of Public Health. “This professorship not only acknowledges Dr. Wang’s accomplishments in public health, but emphasizes the importance of supporting the college’s mission to improve public health in Georgia and across the nation.”
Wang’s current research focuses on the impact of environmental toxins on the formation of liver and esophageal cancers. He also is a world leader in exploring the role that natural products and dietary supplements may play in preventing cancer in high-risk populations. He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed research articles, 20 book chapters and 87 proceeding abstracts and has been invited to present his research finding in numerous international and national conferences.
Wang has played a key role in creating stronger ties between UGA and public health institutions in China, particularly UGA’s joint research agreement with the Wuxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the most progressive regional divisions of the Chinese CDC.
“I am very pleased to receive this endowed professorship,” Wang said. “I am very honored to be selected and nominated by my college and to be approved by the Board of Regents and also (supported) by UGA Provost Libby Morris.”
Wang came to UGA in 2008 from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, where as a professor of molecular toxicology he led both the division of health sciences in the Institute of Environmental and Human Health and the cancer prevention and carcinogenesis program at the Southwest Cancer Treatment and Research Center.
Wang holds a doctoral degree in pathology and immunology from Boston University School of Medicine. From Shanghai First Medical College in Shanghai, China, he holds a bachelor’s degree in preventative medicine and doctoral degree in medicine, specifically nutritional toxicology.
“I certainly appreciate the recognition for my efforts in the College of Public Health over these past five years,” Wang said, “and I look forward to continuing the pace of that work.”
