Joshua Lang
Credentials: MD, MS
Position title: Assistant Professor
Email: jmlang@medicine.wisc.edu
Phone: 608.262.0705
Address:
7151 Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research
1111 Highland Ave
Madison, WI 53705
Focus Groups
Cancer Biology
Education
MD, Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
MS, Kinesiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Research Summary
Cancer resistance
Assay and biomarker development
Drug development for solid tumors
Research Detail
My early research studies identified potential mechanisms by which epigenetic modifying agents could improve immune recognition and lysis of tumor cells. I received independent career development awards from the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Department of Defense to translate my pre-clinical findings into novel therapeutic strategies. However, I faced a critical barrier in this translation due to the lack of accessible pharmacodynamic biomarkers to evaluate the efficacy of these agents in clinical trials. This need led to a collaboration with Dr. David Beebe in biomedical engineering at UW to co-develop microscale platforms to analyze rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that could serve as pharmacodynamic biomarkers in clinical trials. My laboratory has two focus areas: translational biomarkers and epigenetic mechanisms of immune evasion. I received funding in the form of an NIH R01, NIH SBIR and Dept. of Defense Synergistic Idea Award to refine and advance these microscale technologies into clinical trials. I also lead a multi-institution award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation to test these biomarkers in patients with prostate cancer. I am currently leading the CTC biomarker studies in four multi-institution clinical trials utilizing these platforms. These studies have led to collaborations across UWCCC and nationwide that have been funded by the Dept. of Defense, Industry partners and foundation awards. The results from these many collaborations have further validated the utility of these tools across disease types and therapeutic modalities. Our work in epigenetics and immune evasion has been supported with grant funding from the Dept. of Defense and is now evolving into collaborations with NCI CTEP, Roswell Park and pharma partners interested in these translational concepts.