Wei-Jen Chang

Winslow Chair of Modern Science and Professor of Biology

Areas of Study

Name

Biology

Name

Biochemistry / Molecular Biology

Contact

Phone

315-859-4296

Email Address

wchang@hamilton.edu

Location

Taylor Science Center 2085

Wei-Jen Chang, professor of biology, has written or co-written several professional articles in Gene, Protist, Molecular Biology and Evolution and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. During his postdoctoral work at Princeton University, Chang studied gene evolution and genome organization in unicellular organisms.

He joined the Hamilton faculty in 2006. Chang earned a bachelor’s degree from National Taiwan University and his master’s degree and doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Recent Courses Taught

Introduction to Bioinformatics
Biochemistry
Introductory Biology

Research Interests

Genetic diversities in the fish parasite Ichthyophthirius multifiliis
Genome organizations in parasitic ciliates
Gene regulation in a nuclear dualism system
Evolution and function of transposons

Distinctions

The Class of 1963 Faculty Fellowship, Hamilton College, 2014
Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award, Characterizing gene expression networks in fish parasite Ichthyophthirius multifiliis by using novel mathematical algorithms, 2011
National Science Foundation (MRI-R2), Acquisition of a High Performance Computing cluster with a fast interconnect to enable shared-use, college-wide computational investigations at Hamilton College, 2009
The Class of 1966 Career Development Award, Hamilton College, 2009
Dean’s Award, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2000
Mark Diamond Fund, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1999
Graduate assistant scholarship, Department of Microbiology, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1994
The President’s Award, National Taiwan University, 1990

Selected Publications

Chi H., Taik P., Foley EJ., Racicot A.C., Gray H.M., Guzzetta K.E., Lin H.Y., Song Y.L., Tung C.H., Zenke K., Yoshinaga T., Cheng C.Y., Chang W.J., Gong H. (2017) "High genetic diversities between isolates of the fish parasite Cryptocaryon irritans (Ciliophora) suggest multiple cryptic species." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 112:47-52.
K. E. Zaila, D. Cho, W.J. Chang. (2016). "Interactions Between Parasitic Ciliates and Their Hosts: Ichthyophthirius multifiliis and Cryptocaryon irritans as Examples." Biocommunication of Ciliates pp 327-350.
E.C. Swart, J.R. Bracht, V. Magrini, P. Minx, X. Chen, Y. Zhou, J.S. Khurana, A.D. Goldman, M. Nowacki, K. Schotanus, S. Jung, R.S. Fulton, A. Ly, S. McGrath, K. Haub, J.L. Buckles, D. Storton, J.C. Matese, L. Parsons, W.-J Chang, M.S. Bowen, N.A. Stover, T.A. Jones, S.R. Eddy, G.A. Herrick, T.G. Doak, R.K. Wilson, E.R. Mardis, L.F. Landweber. (2013) "The Oxytricha trifallax macronuclear genome: A complex eukaryotic genome with 16,000 tiny chromosomes," PLoS Biology 11(1):e1001473.
K. Xu, T.G. Doak, H.J. Lipps, J. Wang, E.C. Swart and W.-J. Chang. (2012) "Copy number variations of 11 macronuclear chromosomes and their gene expression in Oxytricha trifallax,"Gene 505(1): 75-80.

M. Mollenbeck, Y. Zhou, A.R.O. Cavalcanti, F. Jonsson, B.P. Higgins, W.-J. Chang, S. Juranek, T.G. Doak, G. Rozenberg, H.J. Lipps, L.F. Landweber. (2008) "The pathway to detangle scrambled genes," PLoS One 3(6):e2330.
W.-J. Chang, V.M. Addis, A.J. Li, E. Axelsson, D.H. Ardell, L.F. Landweber. (2007) "Intron evolution and information processing in the DNA polymerase alpha gene in spirotrichous ciliates: A hypothesis for interconversion between DNA and RNA deletion," Biology Direct 2:6.
W.-J. Chang, S. Kuo, L.F. Landweber. (2006) "A new scrambled gene in the ciliate Uroleptus," Gene 368:72-7.
C.P. McFarland*, W.-J. Chang*, S. Kuo, L.F. Landweber. (2006) "Conserved linkage of two genes on the same macronuclear chromosome in spirotrichous ciliates," Chromosoma 115(2):129-138.
S. Kuo, W.-J. Chang, L.F. Landweber. (2006) "Complex germline architecture: two genes intertwined on two loci," Molecular Biology and Evolution 23(1) 4-6.
J.-J. Pan, W.-J. Chang, T.A. Barone, R.J. Plunkett, P.T. Ostrow, S.J. Greenberg. (2006) "Increased expression of TGFß-1 reduces tumor growth of human U-87 glioblastoma cells invivo," Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy 55(8): 918-927.
G. Heyse, F. Jönsson, W.-J. Chang, H.J. Lipps. (2010) "RNA-dependent control of gene amplification," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107(51):22134-9.
J. Postberg, S. Forcob, W.-J. Chang, H.J. Lipps. (2010) "The evolutionary history of histone H3 suggests a deep eukaryotic root of chromatin modifying mechanisms," BMC Evol Biol 10:259.
G. Ricard, R.M. de Graaf, B.E. Dutilh, I. Duarte, T.A. van Alen, A.H. van Hoek, B. Boxma, G.W.M. van der Staay, S.Y.M. van der Staay, W.-J. Chang, L.F. Landweber, J. Hackstein, M.A. Huynen. (2008) "Macronuclear genome structure of the ciliate Nyctotherus ovalis: Single-gene chromosomes and tiny introns," BMC Genomics 9(1):587.
W.-J. Chang, P.D. Bryson, H. Liang, M.K. Shin, L.F. Landweber. (2005) "The evolutionary origin of a complex scrambled gene," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102(42): 15149-54.
W.-J. Chang, N.A. Stover, V.M. Addis, L.F. Landweber. (2004) "A micronuclear locus containing three protein-coding genes remains linked during macronuclear development in the spirotrichous ciliate Holosticha," Protist 155:245-255.

College Service

Acting chair, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology Program, 2008-09

Appointed to the Faculty

2006

Educational Background

Postdoctoral fellow, Princeton University
Ph.D., State Univeristy of New York at Buffalo
M.Sc., State Univeristy of New York at Buffalo
B.Sc., National Taiwan University