Jason Cheng

Dr. Jason Cheng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Chicago, board-certified in Anatomic Pathology, Clinical Pathology, and Hematopathology. His expertise centers on hematologic malignancies including myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), aplastic anemia, myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

His extensive educational background includes:

• Bachelor of Medicine (MD equivalent) from Kunming Medical University (1983)
• Surgical Residency at Yunnan Red Cross Hospital (1987)
• Master of Science in Pathology from Beijing Medical University (1990)
• PhD in Pharmacology from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1997)
• Postdoctoral training in Molecular Biology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2004)
• Residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and Clinical Fellowship in Hematopathology at University of Chicago (2008-2010)

Dr. Cheng's research pioneers RNA epigenetics, specifically RNA cytosine methylation (m5C) and methyltransferases NSUN1/NSUN2, to develop diagnostics and therapeutics for drug-resistant leukemia. His lab collaborates with Argonne National Laboratory's AI supercomputing resources to design NSUN1/2-targeted inhibitors, demonstrating efficacy in killing drug-resistant leukemia cells in preclinical models.

His scientific achievements are recognized through numerous awards including:

• Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigator Award (2014)
• Michael Reese Bench-to-Bedside Translational Science Award (2019)
• Taub Medical Foundation MDS Award (2019)
• Multiple American Cancer Society (ACS-IRG) Awards

Dr. Cheng directs an active research laboratory focused on RNA epigenetics and maintains critical collaborations with computational scientists at Argonne National Laboratory for AI-driven drug discovery targeting hematological malignancies.