Tien Peng

Tien Peng is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, where he leads the Peng Lab focused on fibroblast biology and tissue niche dynamics. His research integrates murine genetic models and human specimens to investigate how fibroblasts support tissue-resident stem cells and immune cells, maintain organ homeostasis, initiate disease, and drive tissue aging, with the lung as a primary model organ due to its cellular diversity.

Dr. Peng's research interests center on fibroblast-stem cell-immune cell interactions in tissue homeostasis and disease. His lab explores mesenchymal modulation of epithelial metaplasia in lung fibrosis, alveolar niche maintenance in emphysema, and resident mesenchymal stem cell niches in aging. Key themes include cellular senescence, fibrotic remodeling, and stromal-immune crosstalk across aging, fibrosis, and cancer contexts.

His laboratory has secured multiple NIH R01 grants including Mesenchymal modulation of epithelial metaplasia in lung fibrosis (R01HL155622) and Maintenance of the alveolar niche in emphysema (R01HL142552), alongside the prestigious NIH New Innovator Award (DP2AG056034). The Peng Lab has published in high-impact journals including Science, Nature Cell Biology, and JCI, establishing foundational insights into stromal niches in lung disease.

• Phi Beta Kappa, University of Virginia (2000)
• American Society for Clinical Investigation Young Physician-Scientist Award (2016)
• NIH New Innovator Award (2016)
• Joe Rae Wright Outstanding Young Investigator Award (FASEB, 2014)
• Stanley E. Bradley Award for Outstanding Bench Research (2013)

Dr. Peng's lab actively investigates how senescent fibroblasts rewire tissue microenvironments in aging, fibrosis, and cancer. Current projects include developing senolytic compounds targeting p16INK4a+ fibroblasts and characterizing the intersection of inflammation and senescence in lung stem cell niches. His work bridges basic developmental biology with translational pulmonary medicine, positioning the lab at the forefront of stromal biology research.