Rate My Professor Hongkui Deng

Hongkui Deng is a Boya Chair Professor of Cell Biology and Changjiang Professor at Peking University, where he has served as Professor of Cell Biology since 2001. He is also a senior investigator at the Center for Life Sciences and Principal Investigator in the Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics at PKUSZ. Deng earned his B.Sc. from Wuhan University in 1984, his M.Sc. from Shanghai Second Medical University in 1987, and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1995. He completed postdoctoral training as an Aaron Diamond Fellow at New York University Medical Center from 1995 to 1998 and served as Director of Molecular Biology at Viacell, Inc. from 1998 to 2001.

Deng’s research focuses on nuclear reprogramming, directed differentiation of stem cells, chemical reprogramming of human somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells, and applications in disease modeling and therapy, including recent work on chemically induced pluripotent stem cell-derived islets for type 1 diabetes treatment. His early contributions include identification of HIV co-receptors. He has received numerous honors, including the Future Science Prize in Life Sciences in 2024, the Tan Jiazhen Life Science Award in 2014, the Wu Jieping-Paul Janssen Medical and Pharmaceutical Award in 2017, the Cheung Kong Scholarship in 2000, and the Natural Science Foundation of China Award for Outstanding Young Scientists in 2001. Deng has authored influential publications in journals such as Nature, Cell Stem Cell, and Cell, advancing the fields of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. He holds editorial roles and has contributed to clinical translation of stem cell technologies.