Dr Jiang-Hui (Sloan) Wang is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and a Senior Research Fellow at the Gene Therapy Centre, University of Massachusetts Chan (UMass Chan) Medical School, U.S.A.

He was trained by Professor Guangping Gao, a world-renowned Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) and gene therapy expert, and specialises in AAV capsid engineering and the translational development of ocular gene therapies. Dr Wang’s work on directed evolution of AAV capsids has yielded AAV vectors with markedly improved photoreceptor transduction via intravitreal delivery – advancing novel treatments for inherited retinal diseases such as Leber congenital amaurosis and retinitis pigmentosa.

Dr Wang combines rigorous preclinical research and clinical translation with over forty publications in journals including Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, Molecular Therapy, and Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

He holds several provisional patents on his capsid engineering platforms. His achievements have been recognized by awards including the Horae Gene Therapy Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Australian Association Graduate Education Fund Scholarship, and multiple Meritorious Abstract Travel Awards from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.

Beyond his laboratory leadership, Dr Wang is an active member of patient-advocacy groups, providing expert lay summaries for Retina Australia and the Usher Syndrome Coalition. This ensures gene-therapy innovations reach – and are understood by –the communities they aim to serve.