From 1941 until 1956 he was a member of Columbia University's Department of Physiology, and after that he joined its Department of Pharmacology.[1] He was the first person to be its Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Professor of Pharmacology, and he retired in 1978.[1] Wang was elected a member of Academia Sinica in 1958.[7]
His research into motion sickness led to the creation of drugs to prevent problems such as vomiting.[8] He studied nausea in astronauts for NASA, which helped lead to the creation of the vomit comet.[8]
Surgeon Commander Christopher J. Davis OBE of the Royal Navy wrote in 1995, "Shih-Chun Wang who, in conjunction with Herbert Borison in 1950, had published the last major development in ideas concerning the mechanism of vomiting control."[9]
Later life
After moving to New York City, Wang's wife Mamie taught nursing courses at the Cornell School of Nursing and helped develop the training program for nurse practitioners.[8] Shih-Chun and Mamie had two daughters. One daughter, Phyllis Wise, followed in her parents’ footsteps and went on to become a medical research scientist, and later became a university administrator who led several large universities.[8] Wang died on June 6, 1993, in a hospital in Englewood, New Jersey.[1]
Wang also received the Sigma Xi Award at Northwestern University, a Commonwealth Foundation Fellowship, and an American Chinese Medical Society Scientific Achievement Award. He was elected a member of Academic Sinica and was an honorary member of the Chinese Pharmacological Society.[4]
Selected publications
Wang, Shih-Chun (1980). Physiology and pharmacology of the brain stem. Futura. ISBN978-0879931278.
Borison, Herbert L.; Wang, Shih-Chun (1953). "Physiology and pharmacology of vomiting". Pharmacological Reviews. 5 (2): 193–230. PMID13064033.