**About the Editor**

**Ying-Jan Wang**, Ph.D., graduated from the Department of Biochemistry, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. He currently serves as a distinguished professor at the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, National Cheng Kung University, Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan. His laboratory's main research focus is understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for environmental toxicants which are triggered by toxicity, as well as for hypersensitivity and carcinogenesis/cancer therapy. Ying-Jan Wang's research interests include the elucidation of the role of autophagy in regulating diverse biological processes, such as proliferation, programmed cell death and inflammation, which contribute to cytotoxicity, dermatitis and/or cancer therapy. In general, basal autophagy helps maintain homeostasis, while additional autophagy is induced in response to many different forms of stress. Thus, he hopes to explore whether autophagy acts as a pro-survival or pro-death player in the toxic response of environmental toxicants or cancer therapy. Along with his colleagues, Ying-Jan Wang discovered several regulatory modes and functions of autophagy. Firstly, they found that autophagy activation is a key player in the cellular response against nano-toxicity, in which endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress caused by misfolded protein aggregation is involved in regulating the autophagic process. Secondly, they uncovered that using a combination of irradiation and anticancer drugs could be a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of malignant cancers, through the induction of both autophagy and apoptosis. Currently, Ying-Jan Wang is focused on exploring the roles of autophagy in the enhanced immune response of nanoparticles in related animal models. By revealing the regulation pathways of autophagy in environmental toxicants that are triggered by toxicity, our research may help in the development of novel and effective preventive strategies to combat several human diseases.
