Zifeng Wang, PhD (王自峰) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Experimental Research at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. He received his PhD from Sun Yat-sen University in 2012 under the mentorship of Academician Xiangfu Kong, with a focus on tumor epigenetic regulation, and subsequently conducted research at The Chinese University of Hong Kong on gliomagenesis and therapeutic resistance. In 2013, he was recruited through Sun Yat-sen University’s “Hundred Talents Program” to join Professor Quentin Qiang Liu’s laboratory, and was promoted to Associate Research Fellow in 2018.

Dr. Wang’s research forces on the core question of cancer stem cell plasticity under therapeutic stress and the population-level “memory encoding” mechanisms that sustain tumor stemness, investigated from the perspective of rhythmic 3D genome organization. He has established and openly shared integrated platforms for CRISPR library screening, proximity labeling proteomics, 3D genome profiling and bioinformatics analysis, single-cell rhythmic visualization, and microfluidic chip–based assays. As first or corresponding author (including co-authorship), he has published 19 papers in leading international journals including Nature Communications (2025), Cell Reports (2024), Advanced Science (2022), Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy (2021), Cancer Communications (2021), and Clinical Cancer Research (2021), and has contributed as a co-author to 39 additional papers in journals such as Science and Cell Research, with 2,200+ citations in total. He holds six granted patents, has secured four National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grants and two provincial natural science grants, and has served as a key contributor (leading sub-project funding and execution) to three National Key R&D Program projects.

Dr. Wang also actively serves the academic community as a Standing Committee Member of the Oncology Immunotherapy Committee, China Association of Geriatric Health Care, and as a member of multiple national and provincial societies spanning cancer chronotherapy, immunology, pharmacology, translational oncology, and psychosomatic medicine, and as Secretary of Psychobehavioral Cancer Research Center in SYSUCC.

Cancer 3D Genome

Cancer Stem Cells and Targeted Therapy

Ph.D., Sun Yat-sen University, China, 2008-2012

B.S., Sun Yat-sen University, China, 2004-2008

1. Wang Z^# *, Liu F^#, Chen N^#, Wu J^#, Li X^#, Fang M, Yan M, Zhang J, Deng B, Wang L, Wang X, Liu M, Zeng D, Zou Z, Wang B, Songyang Z, He B*, Liu Q*. Chromatin looping-based CRISPR screen identifies TLK2 as chromatin loop formation regulator in cancer stemness plasticity. Nat Commun. 2025 Oct 21;16(1):9288. （IF=15.7）

2. Zhang Z^#, Zeng D^#, Zhang W^#, Chen A^#, Lei J, Liu F, Deng B, Zhuo J, He B, Yan M, Lei X, Wang S, Lam EW, Liu Q*, Wang Z*. Modulation of oxidative phosphorylation augments antineoplastic activity of mitotic aurora kinase inhibition. Cell Death Dis. 2021 Sep 30;12(10):893. （IF=9.6）

3. Chen N^#, Fang M^#, Zhong L^#, Li X, Zhou Y, Zhan J, Wang M, Fang Z, Wang H, Tang S, Liu F, Deng B, Chen N, Lei J, Zhang Y, Yan M, Zou Z, Gao Y, Chen C, Zhong W, Saladi SV, Ji H*, Liu Q*, Wang Z*, He B*. KMT2D loss drives adeno-to-squamous transition and sensitizes TKI-resistant lung cancer to AURKA inhibition. Cell Death Differ. 2026 Jan 8. （IF=15.4）

4. Liu F^#, Wang X^#, Duan J^#, Hou Z^#, Wu Z^#, Liu L^#, Lei H, Huang D, Ren Y, Wang Y, Li X, Zhuo J, Zhang Z, He B, Yan M, Yuan H, Zhang L, Yan J, Wen S*, Wang Z*, Liu Q*. A Temporal PROTAC Cocktail-Mediated Sequential Degradation of AURKA Abrogates Acute Myeloid Leukemia Stem Cells. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022 Aug;9(22):e2104823.（IF=14.1）

5. Liu Y^#, Wang Z^#, Jin H, Cui L, Huo B, Xie C, Li J, Ding H, Zhang H, Xiong W, Li M, Zhang H, Guo H, Li C, Wang T, Wang X, He W, Wang Z, Bei JX, Huang P, Liu J, Xia X. Squalene-epoxidase-catalyzed 24(S),25-epoxycholesterol synthesis promotes trained-immunity-mediated antitumor activity. Cell Rep. 2024 Apr 23;43(4):114094.（IF=6.9）

6. Xie J^#, Wang Z^#, Fan W^#, Liu Y^#, Liu F^#, Wan X^#, Liu M, Wang X, Zeng D, Wang Y, He B, Yan M, Zhang Z, Zhang M, Hou Z, Wang C, Kang Z, Fang W, Zhang L, Lam EW, Guo X, Yan J*, Zeng Y*, Chen M*, Liu Q*. Targeting cancer cell plasticity by HDAC inhibition to reverse EBV-induced dedifferentiation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2021 Sep 4;6(1):333. （IF=52.7）

7. Chen A^#, Wen S^#, Liu F, Zhang Z, Liu M, Wu Y, He B, Yan M, Kang T, Lam EW, Wang Z*, Liu Q*. CRISPR/Cas9 screening identifies a kinetochore-microtubule dependent mechanism for Aurora-A inhibitor resistance in breast cancer. Cancer Commun (Lond). 2021 Feb;41(2):121-139.（IF=24.9）

8. Deng B, Liu F, Chen N, Li X, Lei J, Chen N, Wu J, Wang X, Lu J, Fang M, Chen A, Zhang Z, He B, Yan M, Zhang Y, Wang Z*, Liu Q*. AURKA emerges as a vulnerable target for KEAP1-deficient non-small cell lung cancer by activation of asparagine synthesis. Cell Death Dis. 2024 Mar 23;15(3):233.（IF=9.6）

9. Wang H^#, Mei Y^#, Luo C^#, Huang Q^#, Wang Z^#, Lu GM, Qin L, Sun Z, Huang CW, Yang ZW, Chen J, Yin W, Qian CN, Zeng J, Chen L, Leng Q, Guo Y, Jia G*. Single-Cell Analyses Reveal Mechanisms of Cancer Stem Cell Maintenance and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Recurrent Bladder Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 Nov 15;27(22):6265-6278.（IF=11.2）

10.  Wang Z^#, Lu G^#, Sze J, Liu Y, Lin S, Yao H, Zhang J, Xie D, Liu Q, Kung HF, Lin MC, Poon WS. Plasma miR-124 Is a Promising Candidate Biomarker for Human Intracerebral Hemorrhage Stroke. Mol Neurobiol. 2017 Nov 3. （IF=6.2）