Chengyu Liang is the Christopher M. David Professor and Program Co-Leader of the Molecular Cellular Oncogenesis Program at the Ellen Ronald Caplan Cancer Center of the Wistar Institute. His research focuses on understanding the basic mechanisms underlying cellular processes such as inflammation, infection, and cancer, with a particular emphasis on autophagy, organelle homeostasis, genomic stability, membrane trafficking, and virus-host interactions. Liang obtained his M.D. from Qingdao University School of Medicine in China and his Ph.D. in genetics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He completed his postdoctoral training in tumor virology at Harvard Medical School. In 2009, he established his laboratory at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine and was promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 2015. He joined the Wistar Institute as a professor in 2020. His lab's research investigates pathways that coordinate to preserve cellular homeostasis, particularly how these pathways are altered during diseases such as cancer. The lab integrates mechanistic cell biology with translational insights to uncover principles of cellular self-protection that may guide therapeutic strategies for cancer prevention, immune restoration, and antiviral therapy. Liang's work encompasses diverse topics, including DNA damage repair mechanisms, genomic stability, cellular plasticity in response to stress, and the role of organelle dynamics in immune responses and cancer progression.
Wistar Institute • Philadelphia, PA
Research in the Molecular Cellular Oncogenesis Program.
University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine • Los Angeles, CA
Established research laboratory focusing on oncogenesis.