2013 CAFA Awards

Professor Cheng-Ming Chuong received his M.D. from Taiwan University in 1978. He then obtained his Ph.D. from The Rockefeller University in 1983. Later he moved to the University of Southern California in 1987 and work on the development and regeneration of feather, tooth, and hairs. He is currently a professor of pathology and also serves as the Chair of Graduate Committee in Department of Pathology. Dr. Chuong has been invited to give many lectures in international conferences, prestigious universities and received many honors including the award for creativity in research by USC. In 2008, he was elected to the prestigious Academia Sinica, the National Academy equivalent of Taiwan.

Dr. Chuong directs the Laboratory of Tissue Development and Engineering (http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~cmchuong/ cmchuong@usc.edu) in the Department of Pathology, USC. The laboratory is manly supported by National Institute of Health and studies how stem cells are guided to form special tissues and organs of specific size and shape. Using the ectoderm as a Rosetta stone, his laboratory learned from nature how to mold stem cells into different ectodermal organs during development, evolution and stem cell engineering. He has promoted the concept of "topobiology" which is crucial for guiding epidermal stem cells into proper architectures. He demonstrated how the process can guide stem cells to the multiple forms of ectodermal organs. He is also one of the leaders of regenerative biology, and pioneered the work of regenerative hair waves, on how macro-environment can affect the regenerative activity of stem cells in vivo. He also carries out multiple discipline research by collaborating with robot engineers and mathematical biologists, thus provides new understanding in behavior of organ populations.

Dr. Chuong has published more than 170 papers on the biology of integuments in top journals, including multiple research papers and commentaries in Nature and Science. He publishes two books (Molecular Basis of Epithelial Appendage Morphogenesis; Fossil Birds of China) and two journal special issues (Development and Evolution of Amniote Integuments; Pattern Formation). He is an associate editor of J. Investigative Dermatology, Expt. Dematology and on the editorial board of Developmental Biology, J. Expt. Zoology. He is the course co-coordinator of Stem Cell Biology and Medicine in USC. He wrote chapters for textbooks on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine in English and in Chinese. He is frequently interviewed by the media for his work in stem cell biology and evolution and development of feathers and other integument organs. Interviews have appeared in Science Daily News, Business week, NPR, LA times, Chinese Daily news, etc. Most recently, his work was chosen to be highlighted in the annual meeting American Society for Cell Biology with news coverage by ABC, Fox news and interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QB7G1ivgtE&feature=youtube.

Return to CAFA Awards Home Page

Return to CAFA Home Page