Talk:Yuan Chang

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The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. -- Jreferee 20:10, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

The following edit request is submitted on behalf of Yuan Chang, the subject of this article. In accordance with Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest guidelines, Dr. Chang is not editing the article directly. This request identifies six specific issues: one factual error in the infobox, two sections requiring revision for accuracy and completeness, one significant omission (the 2008 MCV discovery, which does not appear in the article body), updates to the awards and honors record, and two additions to the bibliography. All proposed changes are supported by verifiable published sources, which are cited below.

Change 1 — Infobox: Institution Name (Factual Correction) Problem The infobox lists "University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute" as Dr. Chang's current institution. This name is out of date. The cancer center was renamed the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in 2018. Proposed change Replace: University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute With: UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh Source UPMC Hillman Cancer Center official site: https://hillman.upmc.com

Change 2 — Early Life and Education (Trim for Concision) Problem The current early life paragraph contains details of early-career contributions (eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, Helicobacter pylori collaboration) that are disproportionate to the scale of Dr. Chang's subsequent work and create an unbalanced biographical narrative. These are appropriately covered on their respective Wikipedia topic pages. Current text (sentences proposed for removal) "Chang trained in neuropathology at Stanford University under the noted clinical neuropathologist, Dikran Horoupian, publishing studies on eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. During this period she contributed to studies led by her friend, Julie Parsonnet, showing that Helicobacter pylori is a cause for gastric cancer." Proposed change Retain the paragraph up to and including: "Chang trained in neuropathology at Stanford University." Delete all text after that sentence in the early life/education section.

Change 3 — Career Section (Revision for Accuracy and Completeness) Problem The current career paragraph contains technical methodology (representational difference analysis, fragment sizes, genome kilobase counts) that is more appropriate for the KSHV Wikipedia article than a biographical entry. It also omits Dr. Chang's full professorial rank at Columbia University and her current correct title at Pittsburgh. The reference to primary effusion lymphoma is accurate but derives from collaborative work and its attribution here without named collaborators may be misleading. Proposed replacement text "Chang was Professor of Pathology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where early in her appointment as Assistant Professor, she and Patrick S. Moore co-discovered Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) in 1994, identifying it as the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma. Working at Columbia, they sequenced the complete KSHV genome and developed first-generation serologic assays that established, through prospective epidemiologic studies, that KSHV infection precedes the development of Kaposi's sarcoma. In 2002, Chang and Moore moved to the University of Pittsburgh, where they subsequently identified Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) in 2008. Chang is Distinguished and American Cancer Society Research Professor and UPMC Endowed Chair in Cancer Virology in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh." Sources ● Chang Y, et al. Identification of herpesvirus-like DNA sequences in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma. Science 1994;266:1865-1869. PMID: 7997879. ● Russo JJ, et al. Nucleotide sequence of the Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (HHV8). Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1996;93:14862-14867. PMID: 8962146. ● Gao SJ, et al. Seroconversion to antibodies against KSHV-related latent nuclear antigens before the development of Kaposi's sarcoma. N Engl J Med 1996;335:233-241. PMID: 8657238. ● University of Pittsburgh Department of Pathology faculty page: https://www.path.pitt.edu

Change 4 — MCV Discovery (Significant Omission) Problem The 2008 discovery of Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) does not appear anywhere in the article body. This is a significant factual omission: MCV is co-equal in importance to KSHV in Dr. Chang's body of work, is explicitly named in the article's opening sentence and infobox, and is the more recent of the two discoveries. Its absence from the biographical narrative creates a materially incomplete account. Proposed new paragraph Insert as a new paragraph following the existing career/KSHV paragraph: "In 2008, Chang and Moore identified Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) in Merkel cell carcinoma using a computational tumor sequencing approach they developed. MCV is the most recently identified human tumor virus and the first polyomavirus established as a cause of human cancer." Sources ● Feng H, Shuda M, Chang Y, Moore PS. Clonal integration of a polyomavirus in human Merkel cell carcinoma. Science 2008;319:1096-1100. PMID: 18202256. ● Chang Y, Moore PS, Weiss RA. Human oncogenic viruses: nature and discovery. Phil Trans R Soc B 2017;372:20160264. PMID: 28893931.

Change 5 — Awards and Honors (Notable Omissions) Problem The awards listed in the infobox and article body are incomplete. The following honors are among the most significant in Dr. Chang's record and are absent. Each is independently verifiable. Proposed additions ● Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences (2012) ● Marjory Stephenson Prize, Society for General Microbiology (2012) ● Clarivate Analytics Citation Laureate, Physiology or Medicine (2017, jointly with Patrick S. Moore) ● Presidential appointment, National Cancer Advisory Board (2015) ● NCI Director's Career Achievement Award (2019) ● Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2024) Sources ● National Academy of Sciences member directory: https://www.nasonline.org ● American Academy of Arts and Sciences member directory: https://www.amacad.org ● Clarivate Citation Laureates 2017: https://clarivate.com/citation-laureates ● National Cancer Advisory Board roster, National Cancer Institute: https://www.cancer.gov/grants-training/grants-management/advisory-boards/ncab ● NCI Director's Awards: https://www.cancer.gov

Change 6 — Bibliography (Update Through 2023) Problem The bibliography currently lists five papers, the most recent from 2017. Two significant papers are absent: the 2008 paper establishing the mechanistic basis of MCV oncogenesis (Shuda et al.), which is the direct follow-on to the MCV discovery cited in Change 4 and foundational to understanding MCV's causal role; and a 2023 paper representing a methodological evolution of the laboratory's work into single-molecule biophysics. Both are published in first-tier peer-reviewed journals. Proposed additions to bibliography ● Shuda M, Feng H, Kwun HJ, Rosen ST, Gjoerup O, Moore PS, Chang Y. T antigen mutations are a human tumor-specific signature for Merkel cell polyomavirus. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2008;105(42):16272-16277. PMID: 18812503. ● Wan L, Toland S, Robinson-McCarthy LR, Lee N, Schaich MA, Hengel SR, Li X, Bernstein KA, Van Houten B, Chang Y, Moore PS. Unlicensed origin DNA melting by MCV and SV40 polyomavirus LT proteins is independent of ATP-dependent helicase activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2023;120(30):e2308010120. PMID: 37459531.

Note to Reviewing Editor All six proposed changes are either factual corrections, removal of disproportionate detail, or additions of independently verifiable information sourced to peer-reviewed publications or official institutional records. None of the proposed text is promotional in character. The submitter acknowledges a conflict of interest as the article subject and has therefore submitted this as a Talk page edit request rather than editing the article directly, in accordance with Wikipedia's COI guidelines. Thank you ~2026-46859-91 (talk) 13:01, 28 August 2026 (UTC)