Wanli W. Smith PhD

Wanli W. Smith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received her M.D. in clinical medicine and her Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology in China. She pursued post-doctoral work in the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health and in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Neurobiology, at Johns Hopkins University. Currently, she is the Director of the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory in Division of Neurobiology. Her lab is currently directed towards understanding the molecular pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and other disorders such as obesity. Her research goals are to elucidate the molecular signaling pathways of these disorders, to identify potential therapeutic targets and to develop novel therapeutics. Her research goals are to elucidate the molecular signaling pathways of these disorders, to identify biomarkers for disease process and treatment evaluation, to identify drug targets and to develop new approaches for treatment and prevention. She has served as a reviewer for grant panels (e.g. NIH study section) and as an editor for several journals such as PLos One, etc. She has received funding from NIH, private foundations and pharmaceutical companies through the years. She has mentored many postdoctoral fellows and students.

• Smith WW, Margolis RL, Li X, Troncoso JC, Lee MK, Dawson VL, Dawson TM, Iwatsubo T, Ross CA. Aalpha-synuclein phosphorylation enhances eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion formation in SH-SY5Y cells. J. Neurosci. 2005 8;25(23):5544-52; Commentary article by others: Mitch Leslie. Shields Down-Alzheimer’s protein kills by tampering with cell’s antioxidant defenses. Sci. Aging Knowl Environ. 2005, 17;32.
• Smith WW, Norton DD, Gorospe M, Jiang H, Nemoto S, Holbrook NJ, Finkel T, Kusiak JW. Phosphorylation of p66Shc and forkhead proteins mediates Ab toxicity. J Cell Biol. 2005, 25;169(2):331-9.
• Smith WW, Pei Z, Jiang H, Dawson VL, Dawson TM, Ross CA. Kinase activity of mutant LRRK2 mediates neuronal toxicity. Nature Neurosci. 2006, 9(10):1231-3
• Jiang H, Poirier MA, Liang Y, Pei Z, Weiskittel CE, Smith WW, DeFranco DB, Ross CA. Depletion of CBP is directly linked with cellular toxicity caused by mutant huntingtin. Neurobiol Disease. 2006; 23(3):543-51. Role: perform experiments
• Smith WW, Gorospe M, Kusiak JW. Signaling mechanisms underlying Aβ toxicity: implications on neuronalloss in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2006; 5(3): 355-61