Dr. Ho Fung (Edmund) Cheng is an organic chemist specializing in polymer and macromolecule synthesis. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Cheng graduated with an MChem at University of Oxford in 2016 and obtained his PhD in Chemistry at Northwestern University in 2022. During graduate school, he discovered his passion for mentoring students and his love for macromolecules. After a postdoc with Prof. Jeremiah Johnson at MIT, Cheng started as his independent career at Pepperdine University in 2024, before joining 国产剧麻豆剧 in 2025. At 国产剧麻豆剧, Cheng leads an undergraduate-centric research lab that develops nucleic acid-inspired polymers. Outside of work, he loves spending time with his wife, Ashley, and their daughters, Anna and Isabella, and he is an amateur photographer.
Education
- Ph.D., Chemistry, Northwestern University
- MChem, Chemistry, University of Oxford
Courses Taught
- Intro to General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 鈥� CHE 1003
- Organic Chemistry I Lab 鈥� CHE 2094L
- Research in Chemistry 鈥� CHE 4099
- Organic Chemistry I
- Organic Chemistry II
- Organic Chemistry II Lab
Experience in Field
- Pepperdine University, Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry, 2024-2025
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Postdoctoral Associate, 2022鈥�2024
Awards and Honors
- 2024 Infinite Expansion Award, MIT School of Science, 2024
- International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN) Outstanding Researcher Award, 2021
- IPMI Outstanding Student Recognition, International Precious Metals Institute, 2021
- Ryan Fellowship, Northwestern University, 2019鈥�2021
- First Class Honors in Chemistry, University of Oxford, 2016
- Scholar, Christ Church College, University of Oxford, 2013鈥�2016
Dissertations, Presentations, and Publications
- Li, Y.; Zhou, W.; Zhou, Y.; Cheng, H. F.; Lee, B.; Hu, X.; Roth, E. W.; Dravid, V. P.; Glotzer, S. C.; Mirkin, C. A. 鈥淐ocrystals combining order and correlated disorder via colloidal crystal engineering with DNA鈥�, Sci. Adv. 2025,11, eadu4919.
- Prince, E.鈥�; Cheng, H. F.鈥�; Banal, J. L.; Johnson, J. A. 鈥淩eversible nucleic acid storage in deconstructable glassy polymer networks鈥�, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024,146, 7066鈥�17074.
- Cheng, H. F.; Johnson, J. A. 鈥淐ontrolling the orientation of hole transport molecules in bottlebrush polymers for enhanced OLED performance (Research Highlight)鈥�, Aggregate 2022, 00, e259.
- Wang, S. 鈥� ; Lee, S. 鈥� ; Du, J. S. 鈥�; Partridge, B. E.; Cheng, H. F.; Zhou, W.; Dravid, V. P.; Lee, B.; Glotzer, S. C.; Mirkin C. A. 鈥淭he emergence of valency in colloidal crystals through electron equivalents鈥�, Nat. Mat. 2022, 21, 580鈥�587.
- Mirkin, C. A.; Distler, M. E.; Cheng, H. F.; Gibson, K. J. 鈥淥ligonucleotide Dendrimers for Dynamic and Functional Colloidal Crystal Engineering鈥�, US 20250043081 A1.
- Cheng, H. F.鈥�; Distler, M. E.鈥�; Lee, B.; Zhou, W.; Weigand, S.; Mirkin C. A. 鈥淣anoparticle Superlattices Through Template-Encoded DNA Dendrimers鈥�, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021,143, 17170鈥�17179.
- Gu, Y.; Distler, M. E.; Cheng, H. F.; Huang, C.; Mirkin C. A. 鈥淎 General DNA-Gated Hydrogel Strategy for Selective Transport of Chemical and Biological Cargos鈥�, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021,143, 17200鈥�17208.
- Ebrahimi, S. B.;鈥amanta, D.鈥�; Partridge, B. E.; Kusmierz, C. D.; Cheng, H. F.; Grigorescu, A. A.; Ch谩vez, J. L.; Mirau, P. A.; Mirkin, C. A. 鈥淧rogramming Fluorogenic DNA Probes for Rapid Detection of Steroids鈥�, Angew. Chemie., Int. Ed.2021, 60, 15260鈥�15265.
- Cheng, H. F.鈥�; Paul, M.鈥�; d鈥橝quino, A. I.; Stern, C. L.; Mirkin C. A. 鈥淢ulti-State Dynamic Coordination Complexes Interconverted through Counterion-Controlled Phase Transfer鈥�, Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 4755鈥�4763.
- Cheng, H. F.鈥�; Wang, S.鈥�; Mirkin C. A. 鈥淓lectron-Equivalent Valency through Molecularly Well-Defined Multivalent DNA鈥�, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 1752鈥�1757.
- Samanta, D.鈥�; Ebrahimi, S. B.鈥�; Kusmierz, C. D.; Cheng, H. F.; Mirkin, C. A. 鈥淧rotein Spherical Nucleic Acids for Live-Cell Chemical Analysis鈥�, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 13350鈥�13355.
- Mirkin, C. A.; Ebrahimi, S. B.; Samanta, D.; Cheng, H. F. 鈥淔orced intercalation (fit)-aptamers: probes based on forced intercalation鈥�, US 20220348985 A1.
- Ebrahimi, S. B.鈥�; Samanta, D.鈥�; Cheng, H. F.; Nathan, L. I.; Mirkin, C. A. 鈥淔orced Intercalation (FIT)-Aptamers鈥�, J. Am. Chem. Soc.2019, 141, 13744鈥�13748.
- Cheng, H. F.; d鈥橝quino, A. I.; Barroso-Flores, J.; Mirkin, C. A. 鈥淎 Redox-Switchable, Allosteric Coordination Complex鈥�, J. Am. Chem. Soc.2018, 140, 14590鈥�14594.
- d鈥橝quino, A. I.; Cheng, H. F.; Barroso-Flores, J.; Kean, Z. S.; Mendez-Arroyo, J.; McGuirk, C. M.; Mirkin, C. A. 鈥淎n Allosterically-Regulated, Four-State Macrocycle鈥�, Inorg. Chem.2017, 57, 3568鈥�3578.
- Xu, Q.; Cheng, H.; Lehr, J.; Patil, A. V.; Davis, J. J. 鈥淕raphene Oxide Interfaces in Serum Based Autoantibody Quantification鈥�, Anal. Chem.2015, 87, 346鈥�350.
