Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine 2006 Laureate

Xiaodong Wang (born 1963) is a Chinese-born American biochemist best known for his work with cytochrome c. His laboratory developed an in-vitro assay for the activation of the apoptosis related proteinase Caspase-3. This allowed the biochemical purification a complex of Cytochrome c, Caspase-9 and the Apoptotic Protease Activating factor-1 (Apaf-1). These components are essential for forming a ternary complex called the apoptosome that activates Caspase-3 downstream of the intracellular or mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis.

Wang is a member of United States National Academy of Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Currently he is a professor and Chief Director at National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing.

The Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine 2006 is awarded to Xiaodong Wang For his discovery of the biochemical basis of programmed cell death, a vital process that balances cell birth and defends against cancer.