Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Dr. Linzhao Cheng is a Professor of Medicine and Oncology, and a founding member of Stem Cell Program in the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM). He is also the Associate Director for Basic Research in the Division of Hematology, and Lucas and Lynn Chair in Hematology in JHUSOM. He received his BS degree from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 1985, and his PhD degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from JHUSOM in 1991. Since then, he has been working on stem cell research in NIH, two biotech companies (Systemix Inc. in Palo Alto, CA; Osiris Therapeutics in Baltimore, MD) and JHUSOM (since 1999). He was a recipient of USA Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE, 2003). In 2012, Dr. Cheng was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS). As an overseas Chinese, he received an award in 2004 from China’s NSFC to promote international collaborations. Dr. Cheng serves as an editorial board member for several professional journals including Cell Research (China), Stem Cells (USA), Regenerative Medicine (UK), Frontier of Medicine (China), Science China-Life Sciences. He served as a member of the International Affairs Committee for the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) from 2005 to 2013, and served frequently as a reviewer/adviser for granting agencies worldwide. He is currently a member in the advisory and review panel for the national priority initiative on stem cells and regenerative medicine in China. In addition, Dr. Cheng is the current President of Chinese Stem Cell Foundation, a non-profit and non-political professional organization registered in CA, USA. In December 2016, he was elected as President (2018-2019) of the Hematology Division affiliated with the Society of Chinese Biologists in America (SCBA). He also serves as a member in scientific advisory boards of several biotech companies.
Dr. Cheng’s recent work has been on human cell engineering by cellular fate reprogramming (such as iPSC derivation and uses) and genome editing. His current research is focusing on using human stem cells for human biology and engineering including cell and gene therapies, especially for the blood and vascular systems. See details of his scientific publications (>100 papers peer reviewed; cited for >20,000 times with an H-index = 58) in: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=73kyBr0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao http://www.stemcelllab.org http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hematology
Professor, UNC-Chapel Hill
Dr. Li Qian received her undergraduate degree in biology from Fudan University in China and a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She then pursued postdoctoral training in cardiovascular and stem cell biology at Gladstone Institute, UCSF. Currently as a Professor, and the Associate Director of McAllister Heart Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Qian is exploring how to alter cardiac cell fate for the development of new therapeutic strategies to treat heart disease. In addition, Qian Lab (https://uncliqian.web.unc.edu/) takes advantage of traditional mouse genetics, cell and molecular assays, biochemistry and the latest single cell omics technologies to investigate the fundamental events underlying cardiomyocyte differentiation/programming and trans-differentiation/reprogramming. Dr. Qian’s contributions to the field of cardiovascular research and regenerative medicine have been recognized by many honors and awards, including the recent Emerging Investigator Award from NHLBI and Established Investigator Award from American Heart Association. Qian is also a passionate teacher and mentor who has received UNC’s “Outstanding Mentor Award” and “Faculty Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring”.
Professor, Weill Cornell Medicine
Dr. Shuibing Chen is the Kilts Family Professor and Vice Chair of Innovation in the Department of Surgery and Director of Center for Genomic Health at Weill Cornell Medicine. She received my B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry from Tsinghua University in China. Then, she pursued my PhD under the advisement of Dr. Peter G. Schultz at the Scripps Research Institute. After graduation, she joined Dr. Doug Melton’s laboratory at Harvard University. The major research interest in the Chen Laboratory focuses on human pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids for disease modeling and drug screening. One major focus of the lab is to study pancreatic beta cell dysfunction in type 1 and 2 diabetes. They used CRISPR-based gene editing approach to precisely knock out genes or knock-in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The disease modeling platform will be adapted to high throughput format to perform drug discovery and identify gene/allele-specific drugs. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Chen created a panel of hPSC-derived cells/organoids to study SARS-CoV-2 infection. Part of these work has been published on Nature, Cell Stem Cells, Cell Metabolism, Circulation Research, etc. She has received many awards including New York Stem Cell Foundation Robertson Investigator, American Diabetes Association (ADA) Innovative Award, NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, and ISSCR Dr. Susan Lim Award for Outstanding Young Investigator, etc.
Founder and CEO of ALSTEM, INC
Dr. Gary Li received his PhD degree from Nanjing University, China in 2000. In 2002, Dr. Li received the research grant from Muscular Dystrophy Association to support his research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis at SUNY-Albany. In 2006, Dr. Li received the fellowship from California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to support his research on stem cell and neuroscience at Gladstone Institute, UCSF. Dr. Li’s research covers stem cell, neurosciences, chemistry and biochemistry. He published more than twenty research articles in high profile journals, as well as two US patents. In 2008, he received the Katheryn Grupe Award from the Alzheimer’s Association for his outstanding contribution to the field of Alzheimer’s research. In late 2011, Dr. Li founded ALSTEM, and provides stem cell related products and services to the research community. Meanwhile, Dr. Li is a joint faculty of Bioengineering Department at Santa Clara University. Now Dr. Li serves as an executive member of Chinese Stem Cell Foundation.
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Peng Yi is originally from Shandong, China, graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China. He was trained by Dr. Eric Olson and received his Ph.D. degree in UT Southwestern Medical Center. He then worked in Dr. Doug Melton’s lab in Harvard University as a postdoc fellow. In 2013, Dr. Yi become an Assistant Investigator in Joslin Diabetes Center. Currently, he is also the director of Joslin Diabetes Center CRISPR screen core laboratory. His Lab is interested in the research of pancreatic beta cells in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The laboratory uses a multidisciplinary approach to study pancreatic beta cell regeneration, function, stress and protection against autoimmune destruction in Type 1 Diabetes. Its goal is to discover and study novel therapeutic targets and improve the treatment of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.