Dr Wang joined the Wulff Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2024. Xiaodong obtained his PhD from Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in China where his prior research focused on elucidating the mechanisms by which stripe rust pathogen effectors manipulate plant immunity. He is interested in developing solutions that improve wheat disease resistance.

 At present, he is utilising new gene cloning methodologies to undercover novel  rust resistance genes from wheat and  Aegilops tauschii. His downstream work explores the potential mechanisms of how these resistance genes confer their function.