Research Trainee Spotlight: Victoria Wang

Encouragement from a high school teacher, an internship at a pharmaceutical company, and an opportunity to meet patients with cystic fibrosis all drove Victoria Wang to become a researcher. “A very passionate AP biology teacher inspired me to consider research as a career, but it wasn’t until I did an internship at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in college and met cystic fibrosis patients in treatment that I knew I wanted to be a researcher,” Victoria says.

Following that experience, Victoria volunteered and worked in different laboratories, learning about biochemistry and cell biology during the rest of her time in college and then exploring developmental biology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. These experiences brought her to the Keck School of Medicine at USC for graduate school, and she is now a PhD student working on a research project in the laboratory of CHLA’s Senta Georgia, PhD, in the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism.

“My project involves studying early pancreatic development, specifically focusing on a novel role for the transcription factor Neurogenin-3 in facilitating early-stage pancreatic progenitor maturation,” Victoria explains. The goal of this work is to identify the mechanisms necessary for endocrine cell development, which will help to refine strategies of stem cell-derived beta cell generation for transplantation to treat patients with diabetes.

Victoria’s ultimate goal is to become an independent research scientist. “I love the freedom that I've experienced in academia so far in being able to take my project in different directions, and I also like the translational focus of industry,” she says. “I know that whatever path I take, I want to be able to lead a project and work on research addressing major diseases or health problems.”

In her free time, Victoria likes to draw, paint, write and crochet sweaters and toys for her two cats.