Longzhen Cheng

Dr. Longzhen Cheng is an Associate Professor at the Department of Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China. She joined SUSTech as an Assistant Professor in February 2018 and was promoted to Associate Professor in June 2025. Prior to joining SUSTech, she served as an Associate Professor at Fudan University's Institute of Brain Science from 2016 to 2018, where she established her own laboratory as a member of the "Junior PI Plan." She completed her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School under Dr. Qiufu Ma from 2013 to 2016.

Dr. Cheng received her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Fudan University (2005-2009), where she studied synaptic transmission and plasticity in the spinal dorsal horn under Dr. Zhi-Qi Zhao. She earned her M.S. in Physiology (2002-2005) and B.S. in Clinical Medicine (1997-2002) from Wannan Medical College in Anhui, China.

Her research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying pain and opioid effects. Specifically, her laboratory investigates:

• Neural mechanisms underlying mechanical pain hypersensitivity
• Neural mechanisms underlying opioid-induced mechanical pain hypersensitivity and analgesic tolerance
• Spinal circuits for somatosensory information processing
• Gating mechanisms for chronic pain
• Synaptic plasticity of spinal dorsal horn neurons

Dr. Cheng's research employs a multidisciplinary approach combining genetic tools, behavior tests, and electrophysiological recordings in the spinal cord. Her work has revealed important insights into spinal circuits involved in touch-evoked dynamic mechanical pain and mechanisms for chronic pain. Her publications in Cell (2014), Nature Neuroscience (2017), Science (2015), and Neuron (2024) demonstrate her significant contributions to understanding pain mechanisms at the circuit level.

Dr. Cheng has received several honors and awards, including:

• Fudan University Excellent Plan (2013)
• Junior PI Plan from Institute of Brain Science, Fudan University (2016)

Her research has been supported by grants focusing on pain mechanisms and neural circuits. She teaches courses in Animal Physiology and Advanced Animal Physiology at SUSTech. Dr. Cheng's laboratory has made significant contributions to understanding the neural basis of chronic pain, particularly in identifying spinal circuits for mechanical pain and itch, and exploring how opioids affect pain processing.