Dr. Wenbin Liang is a Scientist and Director of the Cardiovascular Electrophysiology Laboratory at University of Ottawa Heart Institute. He is also an Assistant Professor at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Liang completed his medical training in the Fourth Military Medical University (Xi’an, China) and received a PhD degree in Physiology from the University of Toronto (Advisor: Dr. Peter Backx). Before joining UOHI, he was trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Eduardo Marbàn (Director of Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, in Los Angeles), focusing on gene- and cell-based therapies of heart rhythm disorders.
During his Ph.D and postdoctoral training, Dr. Liang was awarded the CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship, the US Heart Rhythm Society Postdoctoral Fellowship (ranked #1 in the Committee), and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC) Doctoral Research Award.
As an independent investigator, Dr. Liang has received several prestigious awards, including CIHR Early Career Investigator Award (2019, Ranked # 2 in Committee), CCS Young Investigator Award (Runner-up, 2019), The Highest Rated Electrophysiology Abstract Award (Canadian Heart Rhythm Society, 2019), HSFC McDonald Scholarship and New Investigator Award (Ranked #1 in Committee, 2017), Early Researcher Award (Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science, 2017), and Gordon K. Moe Young Investigator Award (Ranked #1 in Committee, Upstate New York Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, 2015).
Dr. Liang’s current research program has been funded by CIHR, HSFC, and Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Dr. Liang’s research is focused on mechanistic studies of arrhythmogenic heart disease, with the hope of developing novel therapies for cardiac arrhythmias. Techniques used include somatic gene transfer, stem cells, cellular electrophysiology, organ culture, and whole-animal studies, as well as cellular and molecular biology techniques.
Selected publications:
Updated March 2020
2020
- Lu A, Kamkar M, Chu C, Wang J, Gaudet K, Chen Y, Lin L, Liu W, Marbán E, Liang W. Direct and Indirect Suppression of Scn5a Gene Expression Mediates Cardiac Na+ Channel Inhibition by Wnt Signalling. Canadian Journal of Cardiology.
- Liang W, Han P, Kim EH, Mak J, Zhang R, Torrente AG, Goldhaber JI, Marbán E, Cho HC. Canonical Wnt signaling promotes pacemaker cell specification of cardiac mesodermal cells derived from mouse and human embryonic stem cells. Stem Cells.
- Liang W, Al Qarawi W, Darryl DR. Disease modeling and precision medicine using Canadian cardiomyocytes. Canadian Journal of Cardiology.
2019
- Lu A, Chu C, Mulvihill E, Wang R, Liang W. ATP-sensitive K+ channels and mitochondrial permeability transition pore mediate effects of hydrogen sulfide on cytosolic Ca2+ homeostasis and insulin secretion in β-cells. Pflugers Archiv-European Journal of Physiology.
- Liang W, Gasparyan L, AlQarawi W, Davis DR. Disease modeling of cardiac arrhythmias using human induced pluripotent stem cells. Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy.
- McLaughlin S, McNeill B, Podrebarac J, Hosoyama K, Sedlakova V, Cron G, Smyth D, Seymour R, Goel K, Liang W, Rayner KJ, Ruel M, Suuronen EJ, Alarcon EI. Injectable human recombinant collagen matrices limit adverse remodeling and improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction. Nature Communications.
2018
- Lu A, Lei H, Li L, Lai L, Liang W, Xu S. Role of mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter in remifentanil-induced postoperative allodynia. European Journal of Neuroscience.
- Hosoyama K, Ahumada M, McTiernan CD, Davis DR, Variola F, Ruel M, Liang W, Suuronen EJ, Alarcon EI. Nanoengineered Electroconductive Collagen-Based Cardiac Patch for Infarcted Myocardium Repair. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
2017
- Liang W, Lu A, Davis DR. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Based Treatment of Acquired Heart Block: The Battle for Tomorrow Has Begun! Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology.
- Hamel V, Cheng K, Liao S, Lu A, Zheng Y, Chen Y, Xie Y, Liang W. De Novo Human Cardiac Myocytes for Medical Research: Promises and Challenges. Stem Cells International.
2016
- Wolf AJ, Reyes CN, Liang W, Becker C, Shimada K, Wheeler ML, Cho HC, Popescu NI, Coggeshall KM, Arditi M, Underhill DM. Hexokinase Is an Innate Immune Receptor for the Detection of Bacterial Peptidoglycan. Cell. [cover article]
2015
- Liang W, Cho HC and Marbán E. Wnt signaling suppresses voltage-gated sodium channel expression in postnatal rat cardiomyocytes. Journal of Physiology.
- Ionta V, Liang W (co-first authors), Kim EH, Rafie R, Giacomello A, Marbán E, Cho HC. Shox2 overexpression favors differentiation of embryonic stem cells into cardiac pacemaker cells, improving biological pacing ability. Stem Cell Reports.
Earlier publications
- Liang W, Huang L (co-first authors), Zhao D, He JZ, Sharma P, Gramolini AO, Ward ME, Cho HC and Backx PH. Swelling-activated Cl- currents and intracellular CLC-3 are involved in proliferation of human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. Journal of Hypertension, 2014;32:318-330.
- Kapoor N, Liang W (co-first authors), Marbán E and Cho HC. Direct conversion of quiescent cardiomyocytes to pacemaker cells by expression of Tbx18. Nature Biotechnology, 2013;31:54-62
- Jadhav A, Liang W (co-first authors), Bastin G, Kroetsch J, Balsevich J, Heximer S, Backx PH and Gopalakrishnan V. L-tryptophan ethyl ester dilates small mesenteric arteries by inhibition of voltage-operated calcium channels in smooth muscle. British Journal of Pharmacology, 2012; 166: 232-242.
- Liang W, Oudit GY, Patel MM, Shah AM, Woodgett JR, Tsushima RG, Ward ME and Backx PH. Role of PI3Kα, PKC and L-type Ca2+ channels in mediating the complex actions of angiotensin II on mouse cardiac contractility. Hypertension, 2010;56:422-429.
- Liang W, Ray JB, He JZ, Backx PH and Ward ME. Regulation of proliferation and membrane potential by chloride currents in rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. Hypertension, 2009;54:286-293.