Chengheng Liao, Ph.D. Titles and Appointments Assistant Professor Schools Medical School Departments Pathology Biography Dr. Chengheng Liao received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from East China University of Science and Technology. His graduate research was focused on studying metabolic gene regulation networks in Prokaryotes. He finished his postdoc training in Dr. Qing Zhang's lab. After that, he was promoted to Instructor and Assistant Professor in the department of Pathology at UT Southwestern. His study mainly focused on identifying novel therapeutic vulnerabilities in breast and kidney cancers using functional genetic screenings and multi-omics approaches. Dr. Liao’s current work investigates how metabolic regulation contributes to cancer progression, tumorigenesis, therapeutic resistance, and cancer stem cell maintenance. Research Interest Breast cancer Cancer metabolism Hypoxia signaling Kidney cancer Publications Featured Publications ZNF395 Is a Hypoxia-Responsive Regulator of Mitochondrial Glutaminolysis in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma. Koh J, Liao C, Ng MSW, Hong JH, Heng HL, Gui DY, Wang Z, Chua BY, Li Z, Sobota RM, Lee LS, Iqbal J, Lim KJ, Bezwada D, DeBerardinis RJ, Steger G, Ching J, Tan P, Teh BT, Zhang Q, Yao X, Cancer Res 2026 Feb OF1-OF14 Targeting kinesin family member 20A sensitizes stem-like triple-negative breast cancer cells to standard chemotherapy. Adachi Y, Chen W, Zhang C, Wang T, Gildor N, Shi R, Fu H, Takeda M, Liang Q, Zhao F, Liu H, Fang J, Zhou J, Yao H, Hu L, Li S, Guo L, Xu L, Xie L, Chen X, Liao C, Zhang Q, J Clin Invest 2025 Dec 135 24 BBOX1 restrains TBK1-mTORC1 oncogenic signaling in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Liao C, Hu L, Jia L, Zhou J, Wang T, Kim K, Zhong H, Yao H, Dong L, Guo L, Liang Q, Zhang C, Zhao F, Fang J, Liu H, Li S, Xu L, Simon JM, Malladi S, Kapur P, Brugarolas J, DeBerardinis RJ, Zhang Q, Nat Commun 2025 Feb 16 1 1543 Von Hippel-Lindau protein signalling in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Liao C, Hu L, Zhang Q, Nat Rev Urol 2024 May Tumor hypoxia: From basic knowledge to therapeutic implications. Liao C, Liu X, Zhang C, Zhang Q, Semin Cancer Biol 2023 Jan 88 172-186 Integrated Metabolic Profiling and Transcriptional Analysis Reveals Therapeutic Modalities for Targeting Rapidly Proliferating Breast Cancers. Liao C, Glodowski CR, Fan C, Liu J, Mott KR, Kaushik A, Vu H, Locasale JW, McBrayer SK, DeBerardinis RJ, Perou CM, Zhang Q, Cancer Res 2021 Dec ZHX2 promotes HIF1a oncogenic signaling in triple-negative breast cancer. Fang W, Liao C, Shi R, Simon JM, Ptacek TS, Zurlo G, Ye Y, Han L, Fan C, Bao L, Ortiz CL, Lin HR, Manocha U, Luo W, Kim WY, Yang LW, Zhang Q, Elife 2021 Nov 10 Understanding the Oxygen-Sensing Pathway and Its Therapeutic Implications in Diseases. Liao C, Zhang Q, Am J Pathol 2020 Aug 190 8 1584-1595 Identification of BBOX1 as a Therapeutic Target in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Liao C, Zhang Y, Fan C, Herring LE, Liu J, Locasale JW, Takada M, Zhou J, Zurlo G, Hu L, Simon JM, Ptacek TS, Andrianov VG, Loza E, Peng Y, Yang H, Perou CM, Zhang Q, Cancer Discov 2020 Jul Nitrogen regulator GlnR controls uptake and utilization of non-phosphotransferase-system carbon sources in actinomycetes. Liao CH, Yao L, Xu Y, Liu WB, Zhou Y, Ye BC Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2015 Dec 112 51 15630-5 Results 1-10 of 30 1 2 3 Next Last Honors & Awards American Urological Association (AUA) Urology Care Foundation Research Scholar Award (2024) National Scholarship for Graduated Student, Ministry of Education of China (2014) Professional Associations/Affiliations American Association for Cancer Research (2020) American Urological Association (2024)
