Dr. Haining Yang is a tenured professor and researcher at the University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, recognized for her pioneering research on mesothelioma, a malignancy primarily associated with exposure to asbestos or other carcinogenic mineral fibers. Her work is dedicated to identifying novel strategies for early detection, prevention, and treatment of mesothelioma to improve patients’ outcomes.
Over the course of her career, Dr. Yang has made key contributions to understanding the mechanisms underlying asbestos-induced mesothelioma. She identified High Mobility Group Box Protein-1 (HMGB1) as a crucial inflammatory mediator released by mesothelial cells and macrophages following asbestos exposure. Dr. Yang’s studies demonstrated that HMGB1 drives chronic inflammation induced by carcinogenic mineral fibers, a key process that promotes tumor growth. These findings revealed that targeting HMGB1 and associated pathways could suppress tumor progression and improve therapeutic outcomes, offering new opportunities for more effective treatments.
In addition, Dr. Yang has collaborated with Dr. Michele Carbone to investigate genetic factors contributing to mesothelioma. They discovered that germline BAP1 mutations increase susceptibility to mesothelioma and other cancers, establishing the “BAP1 cancer syndrome”, providing key insights into the interplay between genetic mutations and environmental carcinogens like asbestos. This work has illuminated the mechanisms of mesothelioma susceptibility, disease progression, and survival outcomes in affected individuals.
Dr. Yang’s research has obtained substantial support from prestigious organizations, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the Department of Defense (DoD), the V Foundation, etc. She has received numerous honors for her work, including the AACR Landon Award for International Collaboration in Cancer Research (2008) and the iMig Research Award (2018), reflecting her impactful contributions to the field.
