College of Medicine

Biosketch

My research team studies cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neural circuit and synaptic maturation and explore the neuropathology of psychiatric disorders. Prior to joining the faculty of Florida State University College of Medicine in 2015, I completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of California at San Diego and University of Washington.

Education

Post-Doctoral training, University of Washington
Post-Doctoral training, University of California, San Diego
Ph.D., Chinese Academy of Sciences; Major: Biophysics

Service

Review Editor

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology-Signaling

Frontiers in Neurogenesis

Journal Ad Hoc Review

Cerebral Cortex; Journal of Alzheimer's Disease; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA (PNAS)

Molecular Psychiatry; Molecular Genome; Journal of Neuroscience; Experimental Brain Research

Public Library of Science One (PLoS ONE); Visual Neuroscience; Brain Research Bullet

Cell & Tissue Research; Environmental Research; Proteomics-Clinical Applications

Journal of Proteomics; Journal of Comparative Neurology; Journal of Comparative Physiology A

RNA Biology; Hearing Research; Neurotoxicology and Teratology; Neuroscience

Grant Review

NDPR Study Section, NIH

Auditory Study Section (AUD), NLH/NIDCD

Special Emphasis Section, NIH

Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CMMRP), DoD

Institutional Service (FSU)

Institutional Animal Care and USE Committee (ACUC)

Research Space Committee. College of Medicine

Research Committee. Biomedical Sciences Department

Summer Research Committee. College of Medicine

Postdoctoral Association Committee. Biomedical Sciences Department

Faculty Evaluation Committee. Biomedical Sciences Department

Medical student (M1/2) advisor

PhD Committees

 

Memberships

Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO)

Society for Neuroscience (SfN)

Courses

Foundations of Clinical Physiology; Physician Assistant Program (Course director)

Developmental CNS; Graduate Program (Co-course director)                                

Systemic Physiology and Pathophysiology-1; Physician Assistant Program

Integrated Clinical Science; Physician Assistant Program

Tools of Trade; Graduate Program

Modeling Human Diseases (Co-course director)

Research Techniques in Biomedical Science

Research Focus

We aim to explore the fundamental mechanisms that guide the development of a healthy brain. Our research involves determining how brain circuits assemble for their specialized functions and identifying the specific steps along this process that, when disrupted, lead to severe neurological disorders. Currently, we focus on three disease conditions: fragile X syndrome (FXS), which is a leading single-gene cause of autism and intellectual disability; fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), a severe neurodevelopmental disorder; and hearing loss, which is the most common birth defect among newborns and a common problem for older adults. We develop animal models to uncover underlying pathological mechanisms that are unique or common across these diseases.

Publications

1. Jessup M, Tice AL, McNeill A, Tangen A, Liu ML, McCarthy DM, Bhide PG, Steiner JL, Wang Y (2025). PAE Auditory deficits in a mouse model of first-trimester prenatal alcohol exposure. Developmental Neuroscience.

2. MGillett DA, Tigro H, Wang Y, Suo Z (2024). FMR1 Disorders: Basics of Biology and Therapeutics in Development. Cells.13(24):2100.

3. McCarthy DM, Vied C, Trupiano MX, Canekeratne AJ, Wang Y, Schatschneider C, Bhide PG (2024). Behavioral, neurotransmitter and transcriptomic analyses in male and female Fmr1 KO mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 18:1458502.
4. McLellan K, Sabbagh S, Takahashi M, Hong H, Wang Y, Sanchez JT (2024). BDNF Differentially Affects Low- and High-Frequency Neurons in a Primary Nucleus of the Chicken Auditory Brainstem. Biology 13:877.
5. Yu X, Wang Y. 2023. Peripheral Fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein is required for the timely closure of a critical period for neuronal susceptibility in the ventral cochlear nucleus. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 17. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2023.1186630
6. Wang H, Peng K, Curry RJ, Li D, Wang Y, Wang X, Lu Y. 2023. Group I metabotropic glutamate receptor-triggered temporally patterned action potential-dependent spontaneous synaptic transmission in mouse MNTB neurons. Hearing Research 435:10882
7. Manubens-Gil L, Zhou Z, Chen H, Ramanathan A, Liu X, Liu Y, Bria A, Gillette T, Ruan Z, Yang J, Radojevic M, Zhao T, Cheng L, Qu L, Liu S, Bouchard KE, Gu L, Cai W, Ji S, Roysam B, Wang C-W, Yu H, Sironi A, Iascone DM, Zhou J, Bas E, Conde-Sousa E, Aguiar P, Li X, Li Y, Nanda S, Wang Y, Muresan L, Fua P, Ye B, He H-Y, Staiger JF, Peter M, Cox DN, Simonneau M, Oberlaender M, Jefferis G, Ito K, Gonzalez-Bellido P, Kim J, Rubel E, Cline HT, Zeng H, Nern A, Chiang A-S, Yao J, Roskams J, Livesey R, Stevens J, Liu T, Dang C, Guo Y, Zhong N, Tourassi G, Hill S, Hawrylycz M, Koch C, Meijering E, Ascoli GA, Peng H. 202 BigNeuron: a resource to benchmark and predict performance of algorithms for automated tracing of neurons in light microscopy datasets. Nat Methods. 2023 Jun;20(6):824-835.
8. Wang X, Sela-Donenfeld D, Wang Y (2023). Axonal and presynaptic FMRP: Localization, signal, and functional implications. Hearing Research 430:108720. doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108720. Epub ahead of print.
9. Wang X, Fan Q, Yu X, Wang Y (2023). Cellular distribution of the Fragile X mental retardation protein in the inner ear: a developmental and comparative study in the mouse, rat, gerbil, and chicken. Journal of Comparative Neurology 531:149–169.
10. Yu X, Wang Y (2022). Tonotopic differentiation of presynaptic neurotransmitter-releasing machinery in the auditory brainstem during the prehearing period and its selective deficits in Fmr1 knockout mice. Journal of Comparative Neurology 530:3248-3269.
11. Fan Q, Zhang X, Wang Y, Wang X (2022). Dissecting Cell-Autonomous Function of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein in an Auditory Circuit by In Ovo Electroporation. JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments):e6418
12. Curnow E, Wang Y (2022). New Animal Models for Understanding FMRP Functions and FXS Pathology. Cells 11:162
13. Hirsch D, Kohl A, Wang Y, Sela-Donenfeld D (2021). Axonal Projection Patterns of the Dorsal Interneuron Populations in the Embryonic Hindbrain. Front Neuroanat. 15:793161.
14. Yu X, Wang X, Sakano H, Zorio DAR, Wang Y (2021). Dynamics of the fragile X mental retardation protein correlates with cellular and synaptic properties in primary auditory neurons following afferent deprivation. J Comp Neurol. 529(3):481-500. 
15. Peng K, Wang X, Wang Y, Li D, Huang H, Lu Y (2020). Mechanisms underlying enhancement of spontaneous glutamate release by group 1 mGluRs at a central auditory synapse. Journal of Neuroscience. 40(37):7027-7042.
16. Wang X, Kohl A, Yu X, Zorio DAR, Klar A, Sela-Donenfeld D, Wang Y (2020). Temporal-specific roles of fragile X mental retardation protein in the development of the hindbrain auditory circuit. Development.147(21):dev188797.
17. McCullagh EA, Rotschafer SE, Auerbach BD, Klug A, Kaczmarek LK, Cramer KS, Kulesza RJ Jr, Razak KA, Lovelace JW, Lu Y, Koch U, Wang Y (2020). Mechanisms underlying auditory processing deficits in Fragile X syndrome. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). 34(3):3501-3518.
18. Zorio DAR, Monsma S, Sanes DH, Golding NL, Rubel EW, Wang Y (2019). De novo sequencing and initial annotation of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) genome. Genomics 111(3):441-449.
19. Wang X, Zorio DAR, Schecterson L, Lu Y, Wang Y (2018). Postsynaptic FMRP regulates synaptogenesis in vivo in the developing cochlear nucleus. J Neuroscience 38(29):6445-6460.
20. Hong H, Wang X, Lu T, Zorio DAR, Wang Y, Sanchez JT (2018). Diverse Intrinsic Properties Shape Functional Phenotype of Low-Frequency Neurons in the Auditory Brainstem. Frontier Cell Neuroscience 12:175.
21. Hong H, Lu T, Wang X, Wang Y, Sanchez JT (2018). Resurgent sodium current promotes action potential firing in the avian auditory brainstem. J Physiology 596(3):423-443.
22. Sakano H, Zorio DAR, Wang X, Ting YS, Noble WS, MacCoss MJ, Rubel EW, Wang Y. Proteomic analyses of nucleus laminaris identified candidate targets of the fragile X mental retardation protein. J Comp Neurol. 2017 Oct 15;525(15):3341-3359.
23. Wang Y, Zorio DAR, Karten HJ. Heterogeneous organization and connectivity of the chicken auditory thalamus (Gallus gallus). J Comp Neurol. 2017 Oct 1;525(14):3044-3071.
24. Zorio DA, Jackson CM, Liu Y, Rubel EW, Wang Y. Cellular distribution of the fragile X mental retardation protein in the mouse brain. J Comp Neurol. 2017 Mar 1;525(4):818-849.
25. Wang X, Hong H, Brown DH, Sanchez JT, Wang Y. Distinct Neural Properties in the Low-Frequency Region of the Chicken Cochlear Nucleus Magnocellularis. eNeuro. 2017 Apr 11;4(2).
26. Weatherstone JH, Kopp-Scheinpflug C, Pilati N, Wang Y, Forsythe ID, Rubel EW, Tempel BL. Maintenance of neuronal size gradient in MNTB requires sound-evoked activity. J Neurophysiology. 2017 Feb 1;117(2):756-766.
27. Sanchez JT, Wang Y, Lu Y, Burger MR, Seidl AH, Rubel EW. Nucleus Laminaris. In: Shepherd G, Addona D, editors. Handbook of Brain Microcircuits. New York: Oxford University Press; 2017.
28. Wang Y, Rubel EW. Modification of dendritic architecture after function. In: Emoto K, Wong R, Huang E, Hoogenraad C, editors. Dendrites: Development and Disease. Tokyo: Springer Japan; 2016. 245-270p.
29. Beebe K, Wang Y, Kulesza R. Distribution of fragile X mental retardation protein in the human auditory brainstem. Neuroscience. 2014 Jul 25;273:79-91.
30. Wang Y, Sakano H, Beebe K, Brown MR, de Laat R, Bothwell M, Kulesza RJ Jr, Rubel EW. Intense and specialized dendritic localization of the fragile X mental retardation protein in binaural brainstem neurons: a comparative study in the alligator, chicken, gerbil, and human. J Comp Neurol. 2014 Jun 15;522(9):2107-28.
31. McBride EG, Rubel EW, Wang Y. Afferent regulation of chicken auditory brainstem neurons: rapid changes in phosphorylation of elongation factor 2. J Comp Neurol. 2013 Apr 1;521(5):1165-83.
32. Seidl AH, Sanchez JT, Schecterson L, Tabor KM, Wang Y, Kashima DT, Poynter G, Huss D, Fraser SE, Lansford R, Rubel EW. Transgenic quail as a model for research in the avian nervous system: a comparative study of the auditory brainstem. J Comp Neurol. 2013 Jan 1;521(1):5-23.
33. Polley DB, Seidl AH, Wang Y, Sanchez JT. Functional circuit development in the auditory system. In: Rubenstein JL, Rakic P, editors. Comprehensive Developmental Neuroscience: Neural Circuit Development and Function in the Healthy and Diseased Brain. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2013. 22-39p.
34. Wang Y, Rubel EW. In vivo reversible regulation of dendritic patterning by afferent input in bipolar auditory neurons. J Neuroscience. 2012 Aug 15;32(33):11495-504.
35. Wang Y, Sanchez JT, Rubel EW. Nucleus Laminaris. In: Shepherd G, Addona DD, editors. Handbook of Brain Microcircuits. New York: Oxford University Press; 2010. 224-233p.
36. Sanchez JT, Wang Y, Rubel EW, Barria A. Development of glutamatergic synaptic transmission in binaural auditory neurons. J Neurophysiology. 2010 Sep;104(3):1774-89.
37. Wang Y, Brzozowska-Prechtl A, Karten HJ. Laminar and columnar auditory cortex in avian brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (PNAS). 2010 Jul 13;107(28):12676-81.
38. Wang Y, Karten HJ. Three subdivisions of the auditory midbrain in chicks (Gallus gallus) identified by their afferent and commissural projections. J Comp Neurol. 2010 Apr 15;518(8):1199-219.
39. Wang Y, Cunningham DE, Tempel BL, Rubel EW. Compartment-specific regulation of plasma membrane calcium ATPase type 2 in the chick auditory brainstem. J Comp Neurol. 2009 Jun 20;514(6):624-40.
40. Wang Y, Rubel EW. Rapid regulation of microtubule-associated protein 2 in dendrites of nucleus laminaris of the chick following deprivation of afferent activity. Neuroscience. 2008 Jun 12;154(1):381-9.
41. Gruberg E, Dudkin E, Wang Y, Marín G, Salas C, Sentis E, Letelier J, Mpodozis J, Malpeli J, Cui H, Ma R, Northmore D, Udin S. Influencing and interpreting visual input: the role of a visual feedback system. J Neuroscience. 2006 Oct 11;26(41):10368-71. Review.
42. Wang Y, Luksch H, Brecha NC, Karten HJ. Columnar projections from the cholinergic nucleus isthmi to the optic tectum in chicks (Gallus gallus): a possible substrate for synchronizing tectal channels. J Comp Neurol. 2006 Jan 1;494(1):7-35.
43. Wang Y, Major DE, Karten HJ. Morphology and connections of nucleus isthmi pars magnocellularis in chicks (Gallus gallus). J Comp Neurol. 2004 Feb 2;469(2):275-97.
44. Gu Y, Wang Y, Zhang T, Wang SR. Stimulus size selectivity and receptive field organization of ectostriatal neurons in the pigeon. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2002 Apr;188(3):173-8. Epub 2002 Feb 27.
45. Gu Y, Wang Y, Wang SR. Visual responses of neurons in the nucleus of the basal optic root to stationary stimuli in pigeons. J Neuroscience Research. 2002 Mar 1;67(5):698-704.
46. Wang Y, Gu Y, Wang SR. Directional responses of basal optic neurons are modulated by the nucleus lentiformis mesencephali in pigeons. Neuroscience Letter. 2001 Sep 21;311(1):33-6.
47. Gu Y, Wang Y, Wang SR. Directional modulation of visual responses of pretectal neurons by accessory optic neurons in pigeons. Neuroscience. 2001;104(1):153-9.
48. Wang Y, Gu Y, Wang SR. Modulatory effects of the nucleus of the basal optic root on rotundal neurons in pigeons. Brain, Behavior and  Evolution. 2000 Nov;56(5):287-92.
49. Wang Y, Xiao J, Wang SR. Excitatory and inhibitory receptive fields of tectal cells are differentially modified by magnocellular and parvocellular divisions of the pigeon nucleus isthmi. J Comp Physiol A. 2000 Jun;186(6):505-11.
50. Gu Y, Wang Y, Wang S. Regional variation in receptive field properties of tectal neurons in pigeons. Brain, Behavior and Evolution. 2000 Apr;55(4):221-8.
51. Wang Y, Gu Y, Wang SR. Feature detection of visual neurons in the nucleus of the basal optic root in pigeons. Brain Research Bullet. 2000 Jan 15;51(2):165-9.
52. Xiao J, Wang Y, Wang SR. Effects of glutamatergic, cholinergic and GABAergic antagonists on tectal cells in toads. Neuroscience. 1999 Mar;90(3):1061-7.