Lijun Cheng, PhD
Assistant Professor
Biomedical Informatics
Academic information
- Department: Biomedical Informatics
Research interests
- AI for Precision Medicine
- CRISPR Genome Engineering & Functional Genomics
- AI-guided CRISPR sgRNA Design
- Synthetic Lethality Discovery
- Drug Discovery & Repurposing
- Tumor Microenvironment & Immunology
About
Biography
I am an associate professor of Biomedical Informatics in the Ohio State University College of Medicine, a computational biologist and an artificial intelligence (AI) researcher. I am dedicated to advancing precision medicine through integrative data science, and my research broadly focuses on developing interpretable and scalable AI models for biomedical discovery.
My work lies at the intersection of AI, bioinformatics, CRISPR genome engineering, and translational medicine. I strive to bridge AI and medicine by developing computational frameworks that translate complex biological data into clinically actionable insights. Through my work, I aim to advance early disease detection, accelerate drug development, optimize CRISPR-based therapeutic design, and enable more personalized treatment strategies.
I develop AI-driven and graph-based methodologies to integrate multiomics data, model complex biological systems, identify actionable targets in cancer and other complex diseases, and improve CRISPR sgRNA design and functional genomics screening. My research includes the development of adaptive deep learning models for CRISPR-Cas9 and Cas12 systems, AI-guided synthetic lethality discovery, and computational frameworks for precision genome editing. My previous experience includes projects that identified therapeutic targets and drugs for conditions such as cancer, macular degeneration, neuropsychiatric lupus, and preeclampsia.
I am an active contributor to the scientific community. I serve as a peer reviewer for leading journals including Nature, Cancer Research, Cancers, and PLOS Computational Biology, and I am an editor for Frontiers in Pharmacology. I also review NIH Program Project (P01) and R01 grant applications.
My responsibilities at the Ohio State University College of Medicine include serving on the Biomedical Informatics Education and Award committees, as well as the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program Admissions Committee.
Credentials
Education
- PhD - Control Science and Engineering
- Donghua University, Shanghai, China
- MA - Computer Science
- Xinjiang University, Xinjiang, China
- BA - Applied Mathematics
- Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi, China
Research
Research interests
- AI for Precision Medicine
- CRISPR Genome Engineering & Functional Genomics
- AI-guided CRISPR sgRNA Design
- Synthetic Lethality Discovery
- Drug Discovery & Repurposing
- Tumor Microenvironment & Immunology