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Cheng-Ming Chuong received his
M.D. from Taiwan University in 1978. He then obtained
his Ph.D. from The Rockefeller University in 1983, working
with Dr. Gerald Edelman on establishing the roles of cell-adhesion
molecules in topobiology. He moved to the University of
Southern California in 1987, where he is currently a professor
of pathology and Chair of Graduate Program for Experimental
and Molecular Pathology.
Dr. Chuong directs Laboratory of Organ Development and
Engineering (http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~cmchuong/),
which studies how stem cells are guided to form tissues
and organs of specific size and shape. Using the feather
as a Rosetta stone, his laboratory has shown how complex
feather structures are built step by step in hierarchical
levels, and they have identified molecular mechanisms
and morphogenetic rules at many different levels. For
example, they showed that feather pattern formation is
based on both genetic control and stochastic events. They
studied how feathers evolved from dinosaur scales, and
can convert scales into feathers and barbs into rachis
(required for flight) by modulating molecular signaling
pathways in the lab. His laboratory also studies morphogenesis
of other organs such as the liver and the face, to search
for common rules of morpho-regulation. They have recently
identified localized growth zones in developing livers
that confers the liver its specific size and shape.
Chuong has published more than 100 papers on the biology
of integuments. In 1998, he published a book, "Molecular
basis of epithelial appendage morphogenesis," and
in 2003 he co-edited with Dr. Homberger a special issue
for the Journal of Experimental Zoology on "Development
and evolution of amniote integuments." His evo-devo
approach to integument morphogenesis has brought new insights
and understanding to the field. He has been honored by
invitations to give many lectures inside and outside US
including the John Ebling Lecture in Europe and the Don
Orwin Lecture in Australia. He is an associate editor
of J. Investigative Dermatology. |
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