Xu Wang, PhD
Professor of Comparative Genomics in Animal Health
Adjunct Faculty Investigator, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
Department of Pathobiology
Auburn University
College of Veterinary Medicine
1130 Wire Road
Auburn, AL 36849
Education
PhD, Cornell University, Genetic and Genomics, 2011
BS, School of Life Science at Fudan University, Biological Science, 2004
Biography
Dr. Xu Wang is a tenured Professor in the Department of Pathobiology at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. He also holds affiliate appointments as an Adjunct Faculty Investigator at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and Professor at the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and the Scott-Ritchey Research Center. Dr. Wang earned his Ph.D. in Genetics and Genomics from Cornell University in 2011, followed by a Research Associate position at the Cornell Center for Comparative and Population Genomics. He joined the faculty at Auburn University in 2017.
Research Interests
Dr. Wang’s research program focuses on multi-omics investigations of health, performance, production, welfare, and disease in both companion and farm animals, integrating fundamental biological and biomedical sciences with veterinary and agricultural applications. His laboratory employs next-generation sequencing and comparative and functional genomics to study the genome, transcriptome, DNA methylome, microbiome, and metabolome across multiple species. His team has conducted extensive research on allele-specific gene expression and DNA methylation in mammalian placentas, including those from marsupials, mice, cattle, dogs, and interspecific equine hybrids (mules and hinnies) and placental guppy fish. They have also characterized various forms of X chromosome inactivation and their epigenetic regulation in the placenta. In addition, the Wang laboratory investigates the gut microbiome across a range of species, including human, mouse, cattle, swine, cats, dogs, chickens, and catfish, to investigate microbial shifts in composition and abundance associated with health and disease.
Dr. Wang’s research has been supported by multiple funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the EveryCat Health Foundation (ECHF). He has served on grant review panels for organizations such as USDA-NIFA, the Morris Animal Foundation, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, and AAES. To date, Dr. Wang has published 82 peer-reviewed scientific papers and was the recipient of the Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence in 2023.