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Office Contact Info.
Phone: (631) 344-3604
Fax: (631) 344-2358
Mail address: Bldg. 490

Gene-Jack Wang

Senior Scientist


Telephone:  (631) 344-3608
e-mail:  gjwang@bnl.gov
see also: PET Research

News Release with Video

Research Interests

Dr. Wang’s research focuses on the application of PET and functional MRI to the study of various brain disorders. He is interested in using PET to study the neuro-psychiatric mechanisms and manifestations of alcoholism, drug addiction, obesity and eating disorder in humans and in animal models. Using PET, he reported similarity of brain circuits’ disruption in drug addiction and in obesity. Currently, he uses PET to study the effects of drug expectation on the ability of psychostimulants to increase extracellular DA and the relationship to the reinforcing and addictive properties of stimulant drugs in cocaine addicted subjects. His other interests include the study of diet control drug to brain satiety circuit using functional MRI. He has published over 220 peer-reviewed papers on his imaging research. The National Institute of Health and pharmaceutical companies fund his ongoing research.

 Education & Concurrent Positions

  • Intern, Kaohsiung Medical College, 1979-1980.
  • M.D. Kaohsiung Medical College, 1980.
  • Medical Officer, Army Clinics, Taiwan, 1980-1982.
  • Research Assistant, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, 1983-1984.
  • M.H.S. Johns Hopkins University, 1984.
  • Nuclear Medicine Resident, Univ. Missouri, 1984-1986.
  • Hematology Fellow, Albany Medical College, 1986-1988.
  • Nuclear Radiology Fellow, SUNY-SB, 1988-1990.
  • Research Collaborator, BNL, 1988-1990.
  • Assistant Scientist, BNL, 1990-1992.
  • Associate Scientist, BNL, 1992-1995.
  • Scientist with continued appointment, BNL 1995-2003.
  • Assistant Professor of Radiology, SUNY-SB, 1992-1999.
  • Associate Chief of Staff, CRC, BNL, 1996-1998.
  • Chief of Staff, CRC, BNL, 1998-1999.
  • Research Associate Professor of Radiology, SUNY-SB, 1999-2007.
  • Interim Chair, Medical Department, BNL, 1999-2000.
  • Medical Scientist with tenured appointment, BNL 2003-2005
  • Attending Physician, Nuclear Medicine, Glen Cove Hospital, 2004-present.
  • Professor of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 2006-present.
  • Research Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology, Stony Brook University (SUNY), 2007-present.
  • Chairman, Medical Department, BNL, 2006-present

Honors

  • The Clubhouse Award – Mental Illness Awareness Day, Clubhouse of Suffolk, Inc. 2002
  • Science and Technology Award – Brookhaven National Laboratory 2004

Selected Publications

  • Wang G.J., Volkow N.D., Thanos P.K., and Fowler J.S.
    Imaging of Brain Dopamine Pathways - Implications for Understanding Obesity.
    J. Addict. Med., 3(1):8-18 (2009). PDF File
  • Volkow N.D., Wang G.J., Telang F., Fowler J.S., Goldstein R.Z., Alia-Klein N., Logan J., Wong C., Thanos P.K., Ma Y., and Pradhan K.
    Inverse Association Between BMI and Prefrontal Metabolic Activity in Healthy Adults.
    Obesity (Silver Spring), 17(1):60-65 (2009).  PubMed  PDF File
  • Wang G.J., Volkow N.D., Telang F., Jayne M., Ma Y., Pradhan K., Zhu W., Wong C.T., Thanos P.K., Geliebter A., Biegon A., and Fowler J.S.
    Evidence of gender differences in the ability to inhibit brain activation elicited by food stimulation.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A., 106(4):1249-1254 (2009).  PubMed  PDF File
  • Alia-Klein N., Goldstein R.Z., Kriplani A., Logan J., Tomasi D., Williams B., Telang F., Shumay E., Biegon A., Craig I.W., Henn F., Wang G.-J., Volkow N.D., and Fowler J.S.
    Brain Monoamine Oxidase A Activity Predicts Trait Aggression.
    J Neurosci., 28(19):5099-5104 (2008).  PubMed
  • Alia-Klein N., Kriplani A., Pradhan K., Ma Y., Logan J., Williams B., Craig I.W., Telang F., Tomasi D., Goldstein R., Volkow N.D., Wang G.-J., and Fowler J.S.
    The MAO-A genotype does not modulate resting brain metabolism in adults.
    Psychiatry Res., 164(1):73-76 (2008).  PubMed
  • Chang L., Wang G.-J., Volkow N.D., Ernst T., Telang F., Logan J., and Fowler J.S.
    Decreased brain dopamine transporters contribute to cognitive dysfunction in HIV patients with and without psychostimulant abuse.
    Neuroimage, 42(2):869-878 (2008).
  • Fowler J.S., Volkow N.D., Logan J., Alexoff D., Telang F., Wang G.-J., Wong C.T., Ma Y., Pradhan K., Schlyer D., Jayne M., Hubbard B., Carter P., Warner D., King P., Shea C., Xu Y., and Muench L.
    Fast Uptake and Long-Lasting Binding of Methamphetamine in the Human Brain: Comparison with Cocaine.
    Neuroimage, 43(4):756-763 (2008).  PubMed
  • Goldstein R., Parvas M.A., Maloney T., Alia-Klein N., Woicik P.A., Telang F., Wang G.-J., and Volkow N.D.
    Compromised sensitivity to monetary reward in current cocaine users: an ERP study.
    Psychophysiology, 45(5):705-713 (2008).  PubMed
  • Thanos P.K., Ramalhete R.C., Michaelides M., Piyis Y.K., Wang G.J., and Volkow N.D.
    Leptin receptor deficiency is associated with upregulation of cannabinoid 1 receptors in limbic brain regions.
    Synapse, 62(9):637-642 (2008).  PubMed
  • Thanos P.K., Michaelides M., Benveniste H., Wang G.-J., Volkow N.D.
    The Effects of Cocaine on Regional Brain Glucose Metabolism is Attenuated in Dopamine Transporter Knockout Mice.
    Synapse, 62(5):319-324 (2008).  PubMed
  • Thanos P.K., Michaelides M., Gispert J.D., Pascau J., Soto-Montenegro M.L., Desco M., Wang R., Wang G.J., and Volkow N.D.
    Differences in response to food stimuli in a rat model of obesity: in-vivo assessment of brain glucose metabolism.
    Int. J. Obes. (Lond), 32(7):1171-1179 (2008).  PubMed
  • Thanos P.K., Michaelides M., Ho C.W., Wang G.-J., Newman A.H., Heidbreder C.A., Ashby C.R., Jr., Gardner E.L., and Volkow N.D.
    The Effects of Two Highly Selective Dopamine D3 Receptor Antagonists (SB-277011A and NGB-2904) on food self-administration in a rodent model of obesity.
    Pharmacology Biochemistry Behavior, 89(4):499-507 (2008).  PubMed
  • Thanos P.K., Michaelides M., Piyis Y.K., Wang G.J. and Volkow N.D.
    Food restriction markedly increases dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) in a rat model of obesity as assessed with in-vivo μPET imaging ([11C] raclopride) and in-vitro ([3H] spiperone) autoradiography.
    Synapse, 62(1):50-61 (2008).  PubMed
  • Tomer R., Goldstein R.Z., Wang G.J., Wong C. and Volkow N.D.
    Incentive motivation is associated with striatal dopamine asymmetry.
    Biol. Psychol., 77(1):98-101 (2008).  PubMed
  • Volkow N.D., Fowler J.S., Wang G.-J., Telang F., Logan J., Wong C., Ma J., Pradhan K., Benveniste H., and Swanson J.M.
    Methylphenidate decreased the amount of glucose needed by the brain to perform a cognitive task.
    PLoS ONE, 3(4):e2017 (2008).  PubMed
  • Volkow N.D., Ma Y., Zhu W., Fowler J.S., Li J., Rao M., Mueller K., Pradhan K., Wong C., and Wang G.-J.
    Moderate Doses of Alcohol Disrupt the Functional Organization of the Human Brain.
    Psychiatry Research, 162(3):205-213 (2008).  PubMed
  • Volkow N.D., Wang G.J., Fowler J.S., and Telang F.
    Overlapping neuronal circuits in addiction and obesity: evidence of systems pathology.
    Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci., 363(1507):3191-3200 (2008).  PubMed  PDF File
  • Volkow N.D., Wang G.J., Telang F., Fowler J.S., Logan J., Childress A.R., Jayne M., Ma Y. and Wong C.
    Dopamine increases in striatum do not elicit craving in cocaine abusers unless they are coupled with cocaine cues.
    Neuroimage, 39(3):1266-1273 (2008). PubMed
  • Volkow N.D., Wang G.-J., Telang F., Fowler J.S., Logan J., Wong C.T., Ma Y., Pradhan K., Tomasi D., Ferré S., and Jayne M.
    Sleep Deprivation Increases Dopamine in the Human Brain: Association with Cognition and Fatigue.
    Journal of Neuroscience, 28(34):8454-8461 (2008). 
  • Volkow N.D., Wang G.J., Telang F., Fowler J.S., Thanos P.K., Logan J., Alexoff D., Ding Y.S., Wong C., Ma Y., and Pradhan K.
    Low dopamine striatal D2 receptors are associated with prefrontal metabolism in obese subjects: possible contributing factors.
    Neuroimage, 42(4):1537-1543 (2008).  PubMed   PDF File
  • Wang G.J., Tomasi D., Backus W., Wang R., Telang F., Geliebter A., Korner J., Bauman A., Fowler J.S., Thanos P.K. and Volkow N.D.
    Gastric distention activates satiety circuitry in the human brain.
    Neuroimage, 39(4):1824-1831 (2008).  PubMed
  • Alia-Klein N., Goldstein R.Z., Tomasi D., Zhang L., Fagin-Jones S., Telang F., Wang G.J., Fowler J.S. and Volkow N.D.
    What is in a word? No versus Yes differentially engage the lateral orbitofrontal cortex.
    Emotion, 7(3):649-659 (2007). Erratum in: Emotion. 2007 Nov;7(4):735. PubMed
  • Alia-Klein N., Kriplani A., Logan J., Williams B., Zhu W., Craig I.W., Telang F., Goldstein R., Volkow N.D., Vaska P. and Wang G.J.
    Evidence that brain MAO A activity does not correspond to MAO A genotype in healthy male subjects.
    Biol. Psychiatry, 62(4):355-358 (2007). Epub 2006 Dec 4. PubMed
  • Logan J., Wang G.J., Telang F., Fowler J.S., Alexoff D., Zabroski J., Jayne M., Hubbard B., King P., Carter P., Shea C., Xu Y., Muench L., Schlyer D., Learned-Coughlin S., Cosson V., Volkow N.D. and Ding Y.S.
    Imaging the norepinephrine transporter in humans with (S,S)-[11C]O-methyl reboxetine and PET: problems and progress.
    Nucl Med Biol., 34(6):667-679 (2007). Epub 2007 Jun 8. PubMed
  • Thanos P.K., Michaelides M., Benveniste H., Wang G.J. and Volkow N.D.
    Effects of chronic oral methylphenidate on cocaine self-administration and striatal dopamine D2 receptors in rodents.
    Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav., 87(4):426-433 (2007). PubMed
  • Volkow N.D., Fowler J.S., Wang G.J., Swanson J.M. and Telang F.
    Dopamine in drug abuse and addiction: results of imaging studies and treatment implications.
    Arch Neurol., 64(11):1575-1579 (2007). PubMed
  • Volkow N.D., Wang G.J., Fowler J.S., Telang F., Jayne M. and Wong C.
    Stimulant-induced enhanced sexual desire as a potential contributing factor in HIV transmission.
    Am. J. Psychiatry, 164(1):157-160 (2007). PubMed
  • Volkow N.D., Wang G.J., Newcorn J., Fowler J.S., Telang F., Solanto M.V., Logan J., Wong C., Ma Y., Swanson J.M., Schulz K. and Pradhan K.
    Brain dopamine transporter levels in treatment and drug naïve adults with ADHD.
    Neuroimage, 34(3):1182-1190 (2007). Epub 2006 Nov 27. PubMed
  • Volkow N.D., Wang G.J., Newcorn J., Telang F., Solanto M.V., Fowler J.S., Logan J., Ma Y., Schulz K., Pradhan K., Wong C. and Swanson J.M.
    Depressed dopamine activity in caudate and preliminary evidence of limbic involvement in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
    Arch.Gen. Psychiatry, 64(8):932-940 (2007). PubMed
  • Volkow N.D., Wang G.J., Telang F., Fowler J.S., Logan J., Jayne M., Ma Y., Pradhan K. and Wong C.
    Profound decreases in dopamine release in striatum in detoxified alcoholics: possible orbitofrontal involvement.
    J. Neurosci., 27(46):12700-12706 (2007). PubMed

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Last Modified: September 10, 2009
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DOE, Office of ScienceOne of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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