Time: 3-5 pm, Aug 25, 2018

Venue: Century City International Convention Center in Chengdu, Sichuan province

Reporter: Cheng Heping

Cheng Heping [Photo provided to China Daily]

Cheng Heping, from Anhui province, received a master's degree in bioengineering in 1987. After graduation, he worked as a teacher in Peking University for three years.

In 1995, he received his doctorate in physiology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).

In 2000, Cheng was included on the list of Changjiang Scholars, a program organized by the Ministry of Education to award individuals that have made extraordinary academic contributions.

Four years later, he was employed as a senior investigator at the National Institute on Aging of National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States.  

In 2016, he was honored with the Research Achievement Award by the International Society for Heart Research.  

He is now an academician at the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).

According to Cheng, he has published more than 100 papers, including over 10 pieces in the world’s top academic journals such as Science, Nature and Cell.

His major academic achievements include:

1. Research on calcium signaling of cells

Cheng discovered the Calcium Spark, an activity of microscopic release of calcium and established a new discipline. His paper about this discovery was recognized as one of the 10 most outstanding pieces of research on the cardiac muscle for the past 100 years.

2. Research on mitochondrial reactive oxygen species ( mtROS or mROS)

Cheng was the first person who observed a flurry of superoxide flash activity, a physiological phenomenon, generating interest from scientists around the world.