Jianjun Cheng
Westlake University
Biography
Jianjun Cheng obtained a B.S. degree in Chemistry at Nankai University in 1993, a M.S. degree in Chemistry at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1996, and a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2001 with Professor Timothy Deming. He was a Senior Scientist at Insert Therapeutics, Inc. from 2001 to 2004, and a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at MIT with Professor Robert Langer from 2004 to 2005. He joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in 2005 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011 and Full Professor in 2015 (distinguished promotion). In 2016, he was appointed as Hans Thurnauer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at UIUC. In August 2021, he joined Westlake University as a Chair Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. From August 2021 to October 2024, he served as Dean of School of Engineering. He was appointed as the Vice President of Westlake University in October 2024. Two nanomedicine systems he co-developed has made to clinical trials. He received a Prostate Cancer Foundation Competitive Award (2007), a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2008), a Xerox Award for Outstanding Research at UIUC (2010), a NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2010), the Willett Faculty Scholar Award (2013), and the UIUC Distinguished Promotion Award (2015). He was appointed as an Associate of Center for Advanced Study at UIUC (2014). In 2015, he was selected as one of the four inaugural Faculty Entrepreneurial Fellows in the College of Engineering, UIUC. He has also been on the list of Teacher Ranked As Excellent By Students for five times at UIUC.
Cheng’s research is focused on design, synthesis and application of polymeric- and nano-biomaterials in drug and gene delivery. His research group are interested in polymer chemistry, polypeptide biomaterials in terms of synthesis, development and application, nanomedicine, drug and gene delivery, cell labelling and cancer targeting, self-healing materials.
RSC journal affiliations
Honorary Editor-in-Chief, Biomaterials Science