Advisory Board

Dr. Ke Cheng

Ke Cheng, Ph.D. is Randall B. Terry, Jr. Distinguished Professor in Regenerative Medicine in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine, NC State University and in the UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. He is Adjunct Professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and also serves as the Co-Director of the functional tissue engineering program at the Comparative Medicine Institute.

Ke directs the BioTherapeutics Lab at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine which focuses on stem cells, biomaterials, and nanomedicine for heart and lung regeneration. His lab also studies novel mechanisms of cell extravasation, termed angiopellosis.

Their studies include regenerative medicine approaches by using patient-derived stem cells, biomaterials, and targeted nanoparticles. For stem cell research, they are isolating patient-specific and organ-specific adult stem cells and testing their regenerative potential in small/large animal models of diseases.

They are also taking an integrated approach that combines cells, biomaterials, nanoparticles, and other bioengineering approaches such as magnetic targeting to enhance the efficiency of stem cell therapies.

Ke was previously Assistant Professor at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and at University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, where his research focused on stem cells and regenerative medicine in animal models. Ke also served as the director of the stem cell lab for multiple clinical trials including a clinical trial using the patient’s own cardiac stem cells to treat a heart attack.

Ke earned his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Pharmaceutical Engineering from the Zhejiang University. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Biological Engineering from the University of Georgia and did his post-graduate training and junior faculty experiences at the UCLA School of Medicine and at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

His research results have been published in journals such as Lancet, Nature BME, Nature Comms, Science Advances, J of Clinical Investigation, Circulation, Circulation Research, Biomaterials, and others. His work has been directly translated into two successful Investigation New Drug (IND) applications and licensed to several biotech companies.

Ke is an Associate Editor of J Cell Mol Med and Editorial Board Member of Circulation Research. He is Fellow of The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the American Heart Association (AHA). He is also Chartered Member of the NIH BMBI Study Section (2019–2023) and is affiliated with the NCSU Faculty Cluster: Translational Regenerative Medicine and the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Read Intracoronary cardiosphere-derived cells for heart regeneration after myocardial infarction (CADUCEUS): a prospective, randomised phase 1 trial and Spheroid Stem Cell Production Sows Hope for IPF Treatment.

Read Off-the-shelf artificial cardiac patch repairs heart attack damage in rats, pigs and Exosome Therapy to Repair Age- and Sun-Damaged Skin.

Visit the ChengLab website, his NC State profile, and his LiveForever Club profile. Follow him at ResearchGate and Google Scholar.