Wilson Wong | Profiles RNS

Wilson Wong, PhD

Professor

Boston University College of Engineering

Biomedical Engineering

PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
BS, University of California, Berkeley

Websites

	LinkedIn
	Google Scholar
	Wong Lab
	College of Engineering Faculty
	AIChE Profile

ORCID : 0000-0001-8394-889X

Wilson Wong is an Assistant Professor for Biomedical Engineering at Boston University. He obtained his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Bachelor's in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests are in applying metabolic engineering and immune cell engineering to rapidly and predictably engineer desired properties in human immune cells to treat diseases.

The Wong lab is a DESIGN driven lab where they apply synthetic biology to engineer desired properties in mammalian cells, with application in understanding cellular design principle and to treat diseases. One area that they are interested in is engineering genetic circuits to improve the efficacy and safety of adoptive T cell therapy. Here they are interested in using synthetic biology to design and construct novel signaling, transcription, and metabolic networks in cells for application in medicine and understanding design principles in living organisms. Specifically, they are interested in engineering human immune cells for adoptive cancer immunotherapy. Adoptive immunotherapy is a promising therapy for treatment of various cancers (1). Their goal at the Wong Lab is to engineer immune cells to enhance their disease fighting capability while minimizing adverse side effect. Also, by building novel networks inside immune cells, they can explore design principles by mapping network architecture to phenotype.

BU Research
NIH RePORTER Research

Modified saRNA Encoded BiTEs for Lung Cancer
01/01/2025 - 12/31/2029 (Co-Investigator)
PI: Mark Grinstaff, PhD
NIH/National Cancer Institute
1R01CA296810-01

Synthetic circuit technologies for precision control and signal processing in mammalian cells
08/12/2024 - 04/30/2028 (Co-Investigator)
PI: Ahmad (Mo) Khalil, PhD
NIH/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering
5R01EB029483-06

Engineering recombinase circuits for cellular diagnostic devices
08/01/2024 - 04/30/2028 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering
5R01EB036085-02

ROGUE-Rx On-site generation Using Electronics
09/16/2024 - 09/15/2027 (Multi-PI)
PI: Wilson Wong, PhD
Carnegie Mellon University ARPA-H

Synthetic morphogenesis to recapitulate multicellular patterns for regenerative medicine
09/01/2025 - 08/31/2027 (Key Person / Mentor)
PI: Ian Kinstlinger, PhD
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
1K99HL177312-01A1

Development and characterization of self-amplifying RNA Lipid Nanoparticles for potent and multiplex gene expression in solid tumors
07/01/2024 - 06/30/2027 (Key Person / Mentor)
NIH/National Cancer Institute
5F31CA295073-02

Precise tumor targeting with logic CAR circuits
09/17/2021 - 08/31/2026 (Multi-PI)
PI: Wilson Wong, PhD
NIH/National Cancer Institute
5U01CA265713-04

Precise targeting of T1D specific T cells using CAR and peptide-MHC chimeric antigen ligands
05/15/2022 - 04/30/2026 (PI)
NIH/National Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases
5R01DK132576-04

Targeting Fibroblast Discoidin Domain Receptor 2 for Immunotherapy to Pulmonary Fibrosis
12/01/2021 - 11/30/2025 (Subcontract PI)
Regents of the University of Michigan NIH NHLBI
5R01HL156998-04

Multiplexed Optogenetic Control of Mammalian Genome and Transcriptome using Recombinases and Cas13
07/01/2023 - 06/30/2025 (Key Person / Mentor)
NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences
5F31GM149163-02

Showing 10 of 30 results. Show All Results

Title

Yr	Title	Project-Sub Proj
2025	Modified saRNA Encoded BiTEs for Lung Cancer	1R01CA296810-01
2025	Engineering recombinase circuits for cellular diagnostic devices	5R01EB036085-02
2025	Precise targeting of T1D specific T cells using CAR and peptide-MHC chimeric antigen ligands	5R01DK132576-04
2025	Precise tumor targeting with logic CAR circuits	5U01CA265713-05
2024	Engineering recombinase circuits for cellular diagnostic devices	1R01EB036085-01
2024	Precise targeting of T1D specific T cells using CAR and peptide-MHC chimeric antigen ligands	5R01DK132576-03
2024	Multiplexed and Logical Control of the Mammalian Transcriptome Using Cas13	5R01EB031904-04
2024	Precise tumor targeting with logic CAR circuits	5U01CA265713-04
2023	Precise targeting of T1D specific T cells using CAR and peptide-MHC chimeric antigen ligands	5R01DK132576-02
2023	Multiplexed and Logical Control of the Mammalian Transcriptome Using Cas13	5R01EB031904-03

Showing 10 of 22 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Website Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

Dessai CVP, Huang Z, Lin H, Ding G, He H, Siddiqui M, Zhang M, Wong W, Cheng JX. Cholesterol metabolism modulation facilitates CAR-T induced killing of ovarian cancer. bioRxiv. 2025 Aug 24. PMID: 40894596; PMCID: PMC12393578; DOI: 10.1101/2025.08.20.671345;

Bansal A, Wong SW, Wong WKM, Best G, James S, Glastras S, Pena A, Qin CX, Tan SM, Deliyanti D, Rojas-Canales DM, Joglekar MV, Ekinci EI. Novel Molecular Signatures of Peripheral Regulatory T Cells in Kidney Disease Associated With Type 1 Diabetes. Kidney360. 2025 Aug 14. PMID: 40811035

Lawton ML, Inge MM, Blum BC, Smith-Mahoney EL, Bolzan D, Lin W, McConney C, Porter J, Moore J, Youssef A, Tharani Y, Varelas X, Denis GV, Wong WW, Padhorny D, Kozakov D, Siggers T, Wuchty S, Snyder-Cappione J, Emili A. Multiomic profiling of chronically activated CD4+ T cells identifies drivers of exhaustion and metabolic reprogramming. PLoS Biol. 2024 Dec; 22(12):e3002943.View Related Profiles.

Blum, Benjamin
Denis, Gerald
Moore, Jarrod
Snyder-Cappione , Jennifer
Lin, Weiwei
Wong, Wilson
Varelas, Xaralabos

PMID: 39689157; PMCID: PMC11703073; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002943;

McGee JE, Kirsch JR, Kenney D, Cerbo F, Chavez EC, Shih TY, Douam F, Wong WW, Grinstaff MW. Complete substitution with modified nucleotides in self-amplifying RNA suppresses the interferon response and increases potency. Nat Biotechnol. 2025 May; 43(5):720-726.View Related Profiles.

Kenney, Devin James
Douam, Florian
Grinstaff, Mark
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 38977924; PMCID: PMC11707045; DOI: 10.1038/s41587-024-02306-z;

Adams SC, Nambiar AK, Bressler EM, Raut CP, Colson YL, Wong WW, Grinstaff MW. Immunotherapies for locally aggressive cancers. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2024 Jul; 210:115331.View Related Profiles.

Bressler, Eric
Grinstaff, Mark
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 38729264; PMCID: PMC11228555; DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2024.115331;

Frankel NW, Deng H, Yucel G, Gainer M, Leemans N, Lam A, Li Y, Hung M, Lee D, Lee CT, Banicki A, Tian M, Almudhfar N, Naitmazi L, Roguev A, Lee S, Wong W, Gordley R, Lu TK, Garrison BS. Precision off-the-shelf natural killer cell therapies for oncology with logic-gated gene circuits. Cell Rep. 2024 May 28; 43(5):114145. PMID: 38669141

Ding Y, Tous C, Choi J, Chen J, Wong WW. Orthogonal inducible control of Cas13 circuits enables programmable RNA regulation in mammalian cells. Nat Commun. 2024 Feb 21; 15(1):1572. PMID: 38383558; PMCID: PMC10881482; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45795-x;

Naung MT, Martin E, Wong W, Razook Z, Utama D, Guy AJ, Harrison ST, Cowman AF, Lin E, Kiniboro B, Laman M, Mueller I, Barry AE. Reticulocyte Binding Protein Homologue 5 is a target of balancing selection in the Plasmodium falciparum population of Papua New Guinea. Front Parasitol. 2023; 2:1288867. PMID: 39816834; PMCID: PMC11731791; DOI: 10.3389/fpara.2023.1288867;

Ullah TR, Johansen MD, Balka KR, Ambrose RL, Gearing LJ, Roest J, Vivian JP, Sapkota S, Jayasekara WSN, Wenholz DS, Aldilla VR, Zeng J, Miemczyk S, Nguyen DH, Hansbro NG, Venkatraman R, Kang JH, Pang ES, Thomas BJ, Alharbi AS, Rezwan R, O'Keeffe M, Donald WA, Ellyard JI, Wong W, Kumar N, Kile BT, Vinuesa CG, Kelly GE, Laczka OF, Hansbro PM, De Nardo D, Gantier MP. Pharmacological inhibition of TBK1/IKKe blunts immunopathology in a murine model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nat Commun. 2023 Sep 18; 14(1):5666. PMID: 37723181

Lee S, Khalil AS, Wong WW. Recent progress of gene circuit designs in immune cell therapies. Cell Syst. 2022 Nov 16; 13(11):864-873.View Related Profiles.

Khalil, Ahmad
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 36395726; PMCID: PMC9681026; DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2022.09.006;

Showing 10 of 47 results. Show More

Siddiqui M, Tous C, Wong WW. Small molecule-inducible gene regulatory systems in mammalian cells: progress and design principles. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2022 Dec; 78:102823. PMID: 36332343

Alvandi E, Wong WKM, Joglekar MV, Spring KJ, Hardikar AA. Short-chain fatty acid concentrations in the incidence and risk-stratification of colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Med. 2022 Oct 03; 20(1):323. PMID: 36184594

Zhang J, Shin J, Tague N, Lin H, Zhang M, Ge X, Wong W, Dunlop MJ, Cheng JX. Visualization of a Limonene Synthesis Metabolon Inside Living Bacteria by Hyperspectral SRS Microscopy. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022 Nov; 9(32):e2203887.View Related Profiles.

Dunlop, Mary
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 36169112; PMCID: PMC9661820; DOI: 10.1002/advs.202203887;

Li HS, Wong NM, Tague E, Ngo JT, Khalil AS, Wong WW. High-performance multiplex drug-gated CAR circuits. Cancer Cell. 2022 Nov 14; 40(11):1294-1305.e4.View Related Profiles.

Khalil, Ahmad
Ngo, John
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 36084652; PMCID: PMC9669166; DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2022.08.008;

Wong WKM, Thorat V, Joglekar MV, Dong CX, Lee H, Chew YV, Bhave A, Hawthorne WJ, Engin F, Pant A, Dalgaard LT, Bapat S, Hardikar AA. Analysis of Half a Billion Datapoints Across Ten Machine-Learning Algorithms Identifies Key Elements Associated With Insulin Transcription in Human Pancreatic Islet Cells. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022; 13:853863. PMID: 35399953

Joglekar MV, Sahu S, Wong WKM, Satoor SN, Dong CX, Farr RJ, Williams MD, Pandya P, Jhala G, Yang SNY, Chew YV, Hetherington N, Thiruchevlam D, Mitnala S, Rao GV, Reddy DN, Loudovaris T, Hawthorne WJ, Elefanty AG, Joglekar VM, Stanley EG, Martin D, Thomas HE, Tosh D, Dalgaard LT, Hardikar AA. A Pro-Endocrine Pancreatic Islet Transcriptional Program Established During Development Is Retained in Human Gallbladder Epithelial Cells. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022; 13(5):1530-1553.e4. PMID: 35032693

Wong NM, Frias E, Sigoillot FD, Letendre JH, Hild M, Wong WW. Engineering digitizer circuits for chemical and genetic screens in human cells. Nat Commun. 2021 10 22; 12(1):6150. PMID: 34686672; PMCID: PMC8536748; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26359-9;

Kiwimagi KA, Letendre JH, Weinberg BH, Wang J, Chen M, Watanabe L, Myers CJ, Beal J, Wong WW, Weiss R. Quantitative characterization of recombinase-based digitizer circuits enables predictable amplification of biological signals. Commun Biol. 2021 07 15; 4(1):875. PMID: 34267310; PMCID: PMC8282836; DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02325-5;

Lin H, Lee HJ, Tague N, Lugagne JB, Zong C, Deng F, Shin J, Tian L, Wong W, Dunlop MJ, Cheng JX. Microsecond fingerprint stimulated Raman spectroscopic imaging by ultrafast tuning and spatial-spectral learning. Nat Commun. 2021 05 24; 12(1):3052.View Related Profiles.

Cheng, Ji-Xin
Dunlop, Mary
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 34031374; PMCID: PMC8144602; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23202-z;

Kim T, Weinberg B, Wong W, Lu TK. Scalable recombinase-based gene expression cascades. Nat Commun. 2021 05 11; 12(1):2711. PMID: 33976199; PMCID: PMC8113245; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22978-4;

Wong WKM, Joglekar MV, Saini V, Jiang G, Dong CX, Chaitarvornkit A, Maciag GJ, Gerace D, Farr RJ, Satoor SN, Sahu S, Sharangdhar T, Ahmed AS, Chew YV, Liuwantara D, Heng B, Lim CK, Hunter J, Januszewski AS, Sørensen AE, Akil ASA, Gamble JR, Loudovaris T, Kay TW, Thomas HE, O'Connell PJ, Guillemin GJ, Martin D, Simpson AM, Hawthorne WJ, Dalgaard LT, Ma RCW, Hardikar AA. Machine learning workflows identify a microRNA signature of insulin transcription in human tissues. iScience. 2021 Apr 23; 24(4):102379. PMID: 33981968

Tan X, Letendre JH, Collins JJ, Wong WW. Synthetic biology in the clinic: engineering vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Cell. 2021 02 18; 184(4):881-898. PMID: 33571426; PMCID: PMC7897318; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.017;

Cho JH, Okuma A, Sofjan K, Lee S, Collins JJ, Wong WW. Engineering advanced logic and distributed computing in human CAR immune cells. Nat Commun. 2021 02 04; 12(1):792. PMID: 33542232; PMCID: PMC7862674; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21078-7;

Bowyer JE, Ding C, Weinberg BH, Wong WW, Bates DG. A mechanistic model of the BLADE platform predicts performance characteristics of 256 different synthetic DNA recombination circuits. PLoS Comput Biol. 2020 12; 16(12):e1007849. PMID: 33338034; PMCID: PMC7781486; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007849;

Lee S, Wong WW. The Most Logical Approach to Improve CAR T Cell Therapy. Cell Syst. 2020 11 18; 11(5):421-423. PMID: 33212015; DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2020.10.008;

Olson A, Basukala B, Lee S, Gagne M, Wong WW, Henderson AJ. Targeted Chromatinization and Repression of HIV-1 Provirus Transcription with Repurposed CRISPR/Cas9. Viruses. 2020 10 12; 12(10).View Related Profiles.

Olson, Alex
Henderson, Andrew
Gagne, Matthew
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 33053801; PMCID: PMC7600714; DOI: 10.3390/v12101154;

Sheets MB, Wong WW, Dunlop MJ. Correction to Light-Inducible Recombinases for Bacterial Optogenetics. ACS Synth Biol. 2020 Oct 16; 9(10):2857-2859.View Related Profiles.

Dunlop, Mary
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 33001633; DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00477;

Chen YY, Lim W, Levings M, Blazar B, Krenciute G, Wong W, Lehner M. What is the Optimal Design-Build-Test Cycle for Clinically Relevant Synthetic CAR T Cell Therapies? Cell Syst. 2020 09 23; 11(3):212-214. PMID: 32970992; PMCID: PMC7861890; DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2020.08.017;

Cho JH, Okuma A, Al-Rubaye D, Intisar E, Junghans RP, Wong WW. Author Correction: Engineering Axl specific CAR and SynNotch receptor for cancer therapy. Sci Rep. 2020 Feb 14; 10(1):3000. PMID: 32060414; PMCID: PMC7021703; DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59902-7;

Sheets MB, Wong WW, Dunlop MJ. Light-Inducible Recombinases for Bacterial Optogenetics. ACS Synth Biol. 2020 02 21; 9(2):227-235.View Related Profiles.

Dunlop, Mary
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 31961670; PMCID: PMC7393974; DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00395;

Weinberg BH, Cho JH, Agarwal Y, Pham NTH, Caraballo LD, Walkosz M, Ortega C, Trexler M, Tague N, Law B, Benman WKJ, Letendre J, Beal J, Wong WW. High-performance chemical- and light-inducible recombinases in mammalian cells and mice. Nat Commun. 2019 10 24; 10(1):4845.View Related Profiles.

Walkosz, Maciej
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 31649244; PMCID: PMC6813296; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12800-7;

Olson A, Basukala B, Wong WW, Henderson AJ. Targeting HIV-1 proviral transcription. Curr Opin Virol. 2019 10; 38:89-96.View Related Profiles.

Olson, Alex
Henderson, Andrew
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 31473372; PMCID: PMC6854310; DOI: 10.1016/j.coviro.2019.07.011;

Chakravarti D, Caraballo LD, Weinberg BH, Wong WW. Inducible Gene Switches with Memory in Human T Cells for Cellular Immunotherapy. ACS Synth Biol. 2019 08 16; 8(8):1744-1754. PMID: 31268301; PMCID: PMC6703182; DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.8b00512;

Gagne M, Michaels D, Schiralli Lester GM, Gummuluru S, Wong WW, Henderson AJ. Strength of T cell signaling regulates HIV-1 replication and establishment of latency. PLoS Pathog. 2019 05; 15(5):e1007802.View Related Profiles.

Henderson, Andrew
Schiralli Lester, Gillian
Gagne, Matthew
Gummuluru, Suryaram
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 31116788; PMCID: PMC6548398; DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007802;

Cho JH, Collins JJ, Wong WW. Universal Chimeric Antigen Receptors for Multiplexed and Logical Control of T Cell Responses. Cell. 2018 05 31; 173(6):1426-1438.e11. PMID: 29706540; PMCID: PMC5984158; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.038;

Wong NML, Wong WW. Engineering a Dual Small Molecule Gated ZAP70 Switch in T Cells. ACS Synth Biol. 2018 04 20; 7(4):969-977. PMID: 29589904; PMCID: PMC5985775; DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.7b00394;

Cho JH, Okuma A, Al-Rubaye D, Intisar E, Junghans RP, Wong WW. Engineering Axl specific CAR and SynNotch receptor for cancer therapy. Sci Rep. 2018 03 01; 8(1):3846. PMID: 29497107; PMCID: PMC5832765; DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-22252-6;

Brenner MJ, Cho JH, Wong NML, Wong WW. Synthetic Biology: Immunotherapy by Design. Annu Rev Biomed Eng. 2018 06 04; 20:95-118. PMID: 29345976; DOI: 10.1146/annurev-bioeng-062117-121147;

Weinberg BH, Pham NTH, Caraballo LD, Lozanoski T, Engel A, Bhatia S, Wong WW. Large-scale design of robust genetic circuits with multiple inputs and outputs for mammalian cells. Nat Biotechnol. 2017 May; 35(5):453-462.View Related Profiles.

Bhatia, Swapnil
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 28346402

Brenner M, Cho JH, Wong WW. Synthetic biology: Sensing with modular receptors. Nat Chem Biol. 2017 01 19; 13(2):131-132. PMID: 28103225; DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2290;

Aquino P, Honda B, Jaini S, Lyubetskaya A, Hosur K, Chiu JG, Ekladious I, Hu D, Jin L, Sayeg MK, Stettner AI, Wang J, Wong BG, Wong WS, Alexander SL, Ba C, Bensussen SI, Bernstein DB, Braff D, Cha S, Cheng DI, Cho JH, Chou K, Chuang J, Gastler DE, Grasso DJ, Greifenberger JS, Guo C, Hawes AK, Israni DV, Jain SR, Kim J, Lei J, Li H, Li D, Li Q, Mancuso CP, Mao N, Masud SF, Meisel CL, Mi J, Nykyforchyn CS, Park M, Peterson HM, Ramirez AK, Reynolds DS, Rim NG, Saffie JC, Su H, Su WR, Su Y, Sun M, Thommes MM, Tu T, Varongchayakul N, Wagner TE, Weinberg BH, Yang R, Yaroslavsky A, Yoon C, Zhao Y, Zollinger AJ, Stringer AM, Foster JW, Wade J, Raman S, Broude N, Wong WW, Galagan JE. Coordinated regulation of acid resistance in Escherichia coli. BMC Syst Biol. 2017 Jan 06; 11(1):1.View Related Profiles.

Galagan, James
Wong, Wilson

PMID: 28061857; PMCID: PMC5217608; DOI: 10.1186/s12918-016-0376-y;

Bowyer J, Zhao J, Subsoontorn P, Wong W, Rosser S, Bates D. Mechanistic Modeling of a Rewritable Recombinase Addressable Data Module. IEEE Trans Biomed Circuits Syst. 2016 12; 10(6):1161-1170. PMID: 27244749

Chakravarti D, Cho JH, Weinberg BH, Wong NM, Wong WW. Synthetic biology approaches in cancer immunotherapy, genetic network engineering, and genome editing. Integr Biol (Camb). 2016 Apr 18; 8(4):504-17. PMID: 27068224; DOI: 10.1039/c5ib00325c;

Olshina MA, Angrisano F, Marapana DS, Riglar DT, Bane K, Wong W, Catimel B, Yin MX, Holmes AB, Frischknecht F, Kovar DR, Baum J. Plasmodium falciparum coronin organizes arrays of parallel actin filaments potentially guiding directional motility in invasive malaria parasites. Malar J. 2015 Jul 18; 14:280. PMID: 26187846

Chakravarti D, Wong WW. Synthetic biology in cell-based cancer immunotherapy. Trends Biotechnol. 2015 Aug; 33(8):449-61. PMID: 26088008; PMCID: PMC4509852; DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.05.001;

Sayeg MK, Weinberg BH, Cha SS, Goodloe M, Wong WW, Han X. Rationally Designed MicroRNA-Based Genetic Classifiers Target Specific Neurons in the Brain. ACS Synth Biol. 2015 Jul 17; 4(7):788-795.View Related Profiles.

Wong, Wilson
Han, Xue

PMID: 25848814; PMCID: PMC4547530; DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.5b00040;

Wei P, Wong WW, Park JS, Corcoran EE, Peisajovich SG, Onuffer JJ, Weiss A, Lim WA. Bacterial virulence proteins as tools to rewire kinase pathways in yeast and immune cells. Nature. 2012 Aug 16; 488(7411):384-8. PMID: 22820255

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 47 publications over 12 distinct years, with a maximum of 7 publications in 2020 and 2021 and 2022