Jing Huang

Jing Huang is a Professor in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she conducts pioneering research at the intersection of molecular pharmacology, chemical biology, and drug discovery. Her work has significantly advanced understanding of autophagy mechanisms, metabolic pathways in cancer, and stem cell differentiation.

Dr. Huang's primary research focuses on developing innovative drug target identification methods, most notably the Drug Affinity Responsive Target Stability (DARTS) technique. Her investigations span critical areas including mTOR signaling regulation, metabolite-driven cellular processes (particularly α-ketoglutarate and 2-hydroxyglutarate), autophagy-mediated tissue regeneration, and cancer metabolism. She has made seminal contributions to demonstrating how small molecules can stimulate hair growth through autophagy activation and has identified novel therapeutic approaches for triple-negative breast cancer and glioblastoma.

Analysis of her publication record reveals a decade-long trajectory emphasizing metabolic rewiring in disease states, with consistent exploration of oncometabolites, energy metabolism pathways, and protein degradation systems. Her work bridges fundamental biochemistry with translational applications, particularly in targeting the ubiquitin-proteasome system and mTOR network for cancer therapy.

As an active faculty member in UCLA's Graduate Programs in Bioscience, Dr. Huang mentors doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers. Her laboratory employs chemical genomics, proteomics, and high-throughput screening methodologies to investigate molecular disease mechanisms and identify novel therapeutic targets, with ongoing work focused on metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer and regenerative applications of autophagy modulation.