Dr. Chang is Director of the George H. Whipple Laboratory for Cancer Research. He is an internationally-recognized expert in the role of androgen receptor in prostate cancer and other organs and diseases. Androgens (steroid hormones) control the development and function of male reproductive tissues, and also influence other organs and tissues, such as skin, skeletal muscle, bone marrow, hair follicles, and brain. Androgen regulates gene expression through the androgen receptor.
In 1988, Dr. Chang became the first scientist to clone the complete human and rat androgen receptors. (Science, 1988; PNAS, 1988). He then applied recombinant techniques to overexpress a large quantity of androgen receptor (AR) and used it to produce the first monoclonal antibody to the androgen receptor (Endo., 1989). The successful cloning of the androgen receptor and the generation of the first androgen receptor monoclonal antibody were groundbreaking. Dr. Chang has continued his research in this field; has had more than 200 papers published on the roles of AR, TR2 and TR4; and has served as a mentor to numerous graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty.