Professional Background

Dr. Wen-Xing Ding graduated from Shanghai Medical University (now Fudan University) in China in 1992 in Preventive Medicine, and then obtained a Master degree from Toxicology in 1995 at Shanghai Medical University. He then got his PhD in Molecular Toxicology in 2001 from National University of Singapore. Dr. Ding then did his Postdoc training at University of Pittsburgh in 2001 and became a research assistant professor at Department of Pathology in 2006 in University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Ding became an assistant professor in 2009 and then professor of Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics in 2017 at The University of Kansas Medical Center. The Ding laboratory has been working on the role of autophagy in alcohol and drug-induced liver injury since 2009. The Ding Lab is particularly interested in how autophagy selectively removes cellular damaged/excess organelles such as mitochondria and lipid droplets in hepatocytes. The Ding lab is using cutting-edge genetic engineered mice to investigate organelle homeostasis in liver biology and pathophysiology. Dr. Ding has so far published more than 170 papers in peer-reviewed journals. His research work is currently supported by NIAAA, NIDDK and NIA. Extending his expertise to the next generation of scientists, Dr. Ding is also passionate for mentoring. So far he has mentored nine graduate students and six postdoctoral fellows, nine undergraduate summer students, two high school summer students, one medical student, and five visiting scholars from outside the United States.
In addition to research, Dr Ding has demonstrated outstanding leadership for service. Dr. Ding has been a program committee member of ASIP (American Society of Investigative Pathology) since 2014, and successfully organized symposiums in Experimental Biology Meeting for programmed non-apoptotic cell death in 2015, Autophagy and Tissue injury in 2016, mTOR and liver cancer in 2018, and Alcohol-induced tissue damage in 2019. Dr. Ding has also organized a Basic Science Symposium on autophagy and Basic Research Workshop on Non-apoptotic cell death for the AASLD (American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases) annual meeting. Dr. Ding also served as a co-chair for the Gordon Research Conference for Alcohol-induced end organ injury in 2019. Dr. Ding currently serves as an Associate Editor for Autophagy and editorial boards for several journals including Hepatology, Scientific Report and American Journal of Pathology. Dr. Ding has been serving as an ad hoc reviewer for several NIH study sections and special emphasize panels including HBPP, XNDA and AA1 and a standing member for the XNDA study section.

• BM, Preventive Medicine, Shanghai Medical University, China
• MSC, Environmental Toxicology, Shanghai Med. Univ.
• PhD, Molecular Toxicology, National Univ. of Singapore (NUS)

• American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Fellow, 2018 - Present
• American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Research Award Committee, Member, 2018 - 2021
• American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, -, Fellow, 2018 - Present
• American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Basic Research Committee, Member, 2017 - 2020
• American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Steering Committee, Member, 2016 - Present
• Society of Toxicology , Member, 2015 - Present
• American Society of Investigative Pathology , Member, 2013 - Present