Home Department: Human Biology
Supported by: Pitch Johnson
Mentor: Joseph C. Wu, Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular) and of Radiology

Wendy Zhang, a member of the Wu lab in the Departments of Radiology and Medicine, is a rising sophomore. This summer, she is using non-invasive imaging technologies developed at Stanford to develop novel treatments for the formation of embryonic stem cell (ESC) derived tumors. Currently, ESCs hold exciting promise in the field of regenerative medicine due to their ability to form any cell type of the adult human body; however, because these cells can also give rise to complex tumors called teratomas following their transplantation in vivo, it is critical that methods to treat these tumors be developed before ESC-based therapies are translated to the clinic.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 25, 2010:

Targeting of VEGF-Receptor for Imaging and Treatment of Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Tumor Formation

Wendy Zhang, Andrew Lee, Kevin Guo, Edwin Chang, Jayakumar Rajadas, Shawn Chen, Zhen Cheng, Joseph Wu
[Human Biology, Cardiovascular Medicine; Stanford University]