Grace Wong

Biography

 Dr. Grace earned a PhD under Dr. John Schrader and Sir Gus Nossal at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Australia. She was the first scientist to discover that IFN-g but not IFN-a induces expression of Class II-MHC on mast cells (PNAS 79, p6989) and in the brain (Nature 310, p688). This discovery has profound implications for the understanding of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. She did a postdoc with Dr. David Goeddel (who cloned and expressed human insulin, GH, TPA and IFNs) at Genentech and she discovered that virus infection induces cytokines production (Nature, 323, p819) and cytokines induce the MnSOD gene (Science 242, p941) which is essential for protecting cells from oxidative stress (Cell 58, p923). After promotion to Scientist at Genentech, she successfully shepherded basic research discoveries to product development with Dr. Gordon Vehar. 

Research Interest

biopharmaceuticals