Dr. Hui Cheng is a principal investigator at the Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College in China. He received his BS degree from Zhejiang University in 2007 and his PhD from Peking Union Medical College in 2013, establishing his independent laboratory in 2019. His research delves into hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and the bone marrow niche, focusing on: 1) uncovering the earliest colonization of human HSC in fetal bone marrow, providing insights into their molecular features and the bone marrow microenvironment's role in HSC maintenance; 2) elucidating the molecular mechanisms that balance self-renewal and differentiation in adult HSC; and 3) revealing how niche cells and their secreted mediators regulate normal HSC and influence disease development. As a co-responding author, Prof. Cheng has published his work in prestigious journals, including Cell Stem Cell, Immunity, Circulation, Blood (2026a, 2026b, 2026c, 2025, 2024, 2021), J Exp Med, J Clin Invest (2025, 2023, 2022, 2021), Nat Commun (2026, 2019), Leukemia, Haematologica (2026, 2024, 2022, 2019), and Cell Rep, etc.

PhD, Internal Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China, 2007-2022

BS, Bioinformatics, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, 2003-2007

PI, Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 2020-

Associate professor of Medicine and Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 2015-2020

Visiting scientist, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, 2016-2017

Research Associate, Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 2015-2015

PRINCIPAL HONORS, AWARDS:

2024    Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation (FYTEF) Awards

MAJOR NATIONAL LEADERSHIP POSITIONS, SOCIETIES AND BOARDS:

Board member of Experimental Hematology

Board member of Fundamental Research

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

1.Yuan S, Yang S, Huang Y, Ma B, Wu Q, Zhang X, Yin T, Chen L, Zhang B, Sun G, He Y, Duan H, Hu L, Hao S, Cheng H*, Wei J*, Cheng T*. Single-cell CRISPR screen maps regulatory control of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2026

2.Yang M, Lu T, He Y, Chen C, Wang Y, Sun G, Zheng Y, Qin J, Ye J, Xie X, Zhao X, Duan H, Zhang B, Li Y, Dong F, Xu C, Cheng T*, Cheng H*, Yang S*. KLF4/MLL3 complex axis drives NRBP2 transcription to eliminate acute myeloid leukemia cells. Leukemia. 2026

3.Duan H, Wang B, Zheng Y, Lv Y, Lu T, Li H, Li P, Li R, Xie X, Yang Z, Sun G, Zhao X, Yang M, He Y, Xu C, Pu S, Zhang L, Shi J, Jiang E*, Cheng T*, Hu Z*, Cheng H*. L-Carnitine Regulates Regeneration of Human Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells. Blood. 2026

4.Xu C, Lv X, Yang S, Lv Y, Zheng Y, Wang Y, Hui Y, Sun G, Zhao X, Ma L, Duan H, Zhang L, Pu S, Sun L, Li X, He Y, Fang E, Yang M, Suda T*, Chen Q*, Cheng T*, Cheng H*. Procr+ endothelial progenitor cells govern hematopoiesis through fine-tuning mesenchymal stem cell niche signals. Blood. 2026

5.Pan Z, Deng Y, Huang J, Bian H, Chen Y, Huang A, Jiang C, Wang L, Zhang Z, Lu H, Li S, Yin T, Yu S, Zhu J, Zhao W*, Wang J*, Ji J, Xu Y*, Cheng H*, Chen J*, Hu H*, Hu X*. CD28⁺ CD8⁺ Tem cells with a STAT1-dependent glucocorticoid receptor deficit contribute to steroid-refractory acute GVHD. Blood. 2026

6.Cao J, Liu Z, Chen X, Lan Z, Liu L, Zhai Y, Wang W, Xue C, Cheng H*, Yao Y*, Cheng T*, Rao S*. Engineered dCas12f1-SAM enables robust transcriptional activation and gain-of-function screening in primary human cells. Nat Commun. 2026

7.Duan H, Li P, Zhang L, Lv Y, Yang M, He Y, Yang S, Lu S, Cheng T*, Cheng H*. Modulation of nociceptive nerve activity as a novel therapeutic strategy in acute myeloid leukemia. Fundamental Res. 2026

8.Li Y, Cao J, Tong J, Tang P, Chen H, Sun G, Yang Z, Zhang X, Dong F, Yang S, Gao J, Zhao X, Ma J, Wang D, Zhang L, Wang L*, Cheng T*, Cheng H*, Shi L*. Leukemia-expanded splenic CD81+ erythroblasts potentiate disease progression in mice by reshaping leukemic cell metabolism. J Clin Invest. 2025

9.Lv H, Wang C, Liu Z, Quan M, Li K, Gou F, Shi X, Liu Q, Yu Y, Zhu P, Cheng H*, Cheng T*, Ai D*. Suppression of the Prostaglandin I2-Type 1 Interferon Axis Induces Extramedullary Hematopoiesis to Promote Cardiac Repair After Myocardial Infarction. Circulation. 2025

10.Gao R, Chen K, Wang Y, Guo R, Zhang X, Wu P, Wang W, Huang Q, Xie X, Yang S, Lv Y, Ren Q, Liu F, Chen S, Ma F, Cheng T*, Cheng H*. FHL2 deficiency aggravates Candida albicans infection through decreased myelopoiesis. Sci China Life Sci. 2025

11.Pu S, Cheng T*, Cheng H*. Advances in RNA editing in hematopoiesis and associated malignancies. Blood. 2025

12.Wang N, Yang S, Li Y, Gou F, Lv Y, Zhao X, Wang Y, Xu C, Zhou B, Dong F*, Ju Z*, Cheng T*, Cheng H*. p21/Zbtb18 repress the expression of cKit to regulate the self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells. Protein & Cell. 2024

13.Zheng Z, Yang S, Gou F, Tang C, Zhang Z, Gu Q, Sun G, Jiang P, Wang N, Zhao X, Kang J, He Y, Yang M, Lu T, Lu S, Qian P*, Zhu P*, Cheng H*, Cheng T*. The ATF4-RPS19BP1 axis modulates ribosome biogenesis to promote erythropoiesis. Blood. 2024

14.Li M, Sun G, Zhao J, Pu S, Lv Y, Wang Y, Li Y, Zhao X, Wang Y*, Yang S*, Cheng T*, Cheng H*. Small extracellular vesicles derived from acute myeloid leukemia cells promote leukemogenesis by transferring miR-221-3p. Haematologica. 2024

15.Li J, Liu J, Li Y, Chen L, Cheng H*, Li Y*, Cheng T*, Wang Q*, Zhou B*. Differentiation route determines the functional outputs of adult megakaryopoiesis. Immunity, 2024