Pharmaceutical Sciences
Wei Cheng, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, and Professor of Biological Chemistry, Medical School
College of Pharmacy
428 Church St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065
3565 NUB
Role Overview and Bio
Wei Cheng is a tenured professor with expertise in biochemistry, biophysics and B cell biology. Prof. Cheng’s lab has pioneered the development of synthetic virus-like structures (SVLS) for the study of mechanisms of B cell responses to particulate antigens such as viruses and nanoparticles. Besides running a research lab, Prof. Cheng teaches undergraduate students in the Physical Chemistry of Drug Products, and graduate students in Analytical Methods in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Highlights
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Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California at Berkeley, HHMI
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PhD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO
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BS, University of Science and Technology of China (the ‘Caltech’ of China)
Research Interests
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Understanding the mechanisms of B cell activation in response to antigens
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The development and use of synthetic virus-like structures for therapeutic applications
Awards
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2011 Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar of the March of Dimes Foundation, March of Dimes Foundation
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2012 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, 3M
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2011 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, NIH
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2013 George Fishman Memorial Fund, College of Pharmacy
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2012 NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation
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2017 Upjohn research award, COP
Selected Publications
J. F. Brooks, J. Riggs, J. L. Mueller, R. Mathenge, Wei-Yun Wholey, A. R. Meyer, Sekou-Tidiane
Yoda, V. S. Vykunta , H. V. Nielsen, W. Cheng* and J. Zikherman*. (2023) Molecualr Basis for
Potent B Cell Responses to Antigen displayed on Particles of Viral Size. Nature Immunology
24: 1762-1777. *Co-Corresponding authors.
J. Zikherman*, J. F. Brooks, W. Cheng*. (2023) Multivalent virus-like epitope display amplifies
BCR signaling independent of avidity. Nature Immunology 24: 1610-1611. *Co-Corresponding
authors.
Y. Pang, H. Song, J. H. Kim, X. Hou, and W. Cheng. (2014). Optical Trapping of Individual
Human Immunodeficiency Viruses in Culture Fluid Reveals Heterogeneity with Single-Molecule
Resolution. Nature Nanotechnology 9: 624-630.
W. Cheng*, S. G. Arunajadai, J. R. Moffitt, I. Tinoco Jr., and C. Bustamante*. (2011). Single
Base Pair Unwinding and Asynchronous RNA Release by the HCV NS3 Helicase. Science 333:
1746-1749. *Co-Corresponding authors.