Chi-Hing Christina Cheng

Dr. Chi-Hing Christina Cheng is a Professor in the Department of Animal Biology within the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also holds an affiliation with the Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior program. Her research focuses on evolutionary adaptations in polar fishes, particularly Antarctic and Arctic species, with extensive field work conducted in Antarctica since 1984.

Dr. Cheng's research interests span evolutionary genomics, transcriptomics, and physiological adaptations to extreme cold environments. She investigates how Antarctic and Arctic fishes have evolved molecular mechanisms to survive in freezing waters, with particular focus on antifreeze proteins and other cold-adaptive genes. Her work integrates approaches from environmental history, organismal physiology, protein structure-function analysis, molecular evolution, and genomic-scale analyses. She conducts field research in both Antarctica and the Arctic, studying marine biodiversity in polar regions and examining how these highly specialized organisms might respond to climate change.

Analysis of Dr. Cheng's recent publications reveals a strong focus on polar fish genomics, molecular evolution of antifreeze proteins, and Antarctic biodiversity. Her research spans multiple disciplines including genomics, evolutionary biology, biochemistry, and marine biology. Key themes include the evolutionary mechanisms behind cold adaptation, comparative genomics of polar fishes, protein structure-function relationships in extreme environments, and the impact of climate change on polar ecosystems. Her work often involves international collaborations and integrates field work with laboratory-based genomic and molecular analyses.

Dr. Cheng maintains an active research laboratory focused on polar fish adaptation. Her team conducts both field expeditions to Antarctica and laboratory-based genomic and molecular analyses. She has been conducting research in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica since 1984, making long-term observations of polar ecosystems and the organisms that inhabit them. Her lab continues to be at the forefront of research on evolutionary adaptation to extreme cold environments.