About

Cheng Sun is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University. His primary research interests are in the fields of emerging applications of nano-electronics, nanophotonics, nano-electromechanical systems, and nano-biomedical systems. His work necessitates the development of viable nano-manufacturing technologies, and his research group is engaged in creating novel nano-scale fabrication techniques and integrated nano-systems for bio-sensing and high-efficiency energy conversion. Recognized for his contributions, he received the NSF CAREER award in 2010.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Materials science
• Mechanical engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Optoelectronics
• Biology
• Medicine
• Engineering drawing
• Anatomy
• Physics
• Geometry
• Optics
• Electrical engineering
• Biomedical engineering
• Ophthalmology
• Composite material

Selected publications

• Clinical Features and Risk Factors for Rhabdomyolysis in Patients with Chlamydia psittaci Pneumonia: A Multicenter Study

  Infection and Drug Resistance · 2026-05-01

  articleOpen access

  Purpose: Chlamydia psittaci infection can lead to rhabdomyolysis (RM); however, systematic characterization of RM in patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia has not been performed. This study analyzed the clinical characteristics of and risk factors for RM in patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia. Patients and Methods: Clinical data of patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia who were admitted to hospitals in Guangdong Province between January 2020 and December 2025 were retrospectively collected. Serum muscle enzyme activities at admission and factors associated with RM development were investigated. Results: Elevated creatine kinase (CK) levels were observed in 46.8% of patients, and 20.5% developed RM. Compared with the non-severe pneumonia group, the severe pneumonia group included significantly more patients with elevated CK levels and RM ( P < 0.001). Compared with patients without RM, those with RM experienced higher incidences of myalgia, dyspnea, and altered consciousness, and they had a higher Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), a greater likelihood of acute kidney injury, and longer hospital stays; additionally, they more commonly required mechanical ventilation. Systemic inflammatory markers (such as C-reactive protein [CRP]), skeletal muscle and myocardial injury markers, D-dimer levels, and hepatic and renal dysfunction indicators were substantially escalated in patients with RM; however, their serum sodium and albumin levels were significantly lower ( P < 0.05). High PSI, elevated CRP level, dyspnea, and hyponatremia were considered independent risk factors for RM in patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia. Conclusion: RM is an important complication of Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia. Early monitoring and intervention are warranted to improve the prognosis. Keywords: Chlamydia psittaci , pneumonia, rhabdomyolysis, risk factors

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Placental RTN3L‐dependent ER‐Phagy Contributes to Fetal Testicular Dysplasia Upon Environmental Stress

  Advanced Science · 2025-04-26 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Prenatal environmental stress damages fetal testicular development, leading to male infertility. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the impact of gestational environmental stress on fetal testicular development require further investigation. This study demonstrates that gestational environmental stressor cadmium exposure caused placental estradiol synthesis inhibition and fetal testicular dysplasia. Gestational estradiol supplementation restores fetal testicular dysplasia caused by environmental stress-induced placental estradiol synthesis inhibition. Analysis of human placentae and cadmium-stimulated human primary placental trophoblasts confirmed that ER-phagy is associated with the inhibition of estradiol synthesis in placentae. Subsequently, the data reveals that environmental stress significantly activates RTN3L-mediated ER-phagy. RTN3L-deficient cells and placental Rtn3l-specific knockout mice confirm that environmental stress-activated RTN3L-mediated ER-phagy inhibited placental estradiol synthesis. Total N6-methyladenosine level increasing in gestational environmental stress-exposed placentae. METTL3-mediated N6-methyladenosine modification suppression obviously restrains environmental stress-activated RTN3L-dependent ER-phagy. In conclusion, gestational environmental stress activates ER-phagy by increasing placental Rtn3l mRNA N6-methyladenosine modification, inhibiting placental estradiol synthesis, and contributing to fetal testicular dysplasia. The study demonstrates the early prevention and treatment of adult male infertility from the perspective of fetal-derived diseases.

  PublisherDOI

• Machine-Learning-Based Automated Schlemm’s Canal Volumetric Segmentation for Optical Coherence Tomography

  Chemical & Biomedical Imaging · 2025-11-11

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Changes in persistent anticyclonic circulation across Eurasian continent and its linkage with extreme heatwaves

  Global and Planetary Change · 2025-11-15

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Quantifying the spatial distribution of post-translational histone modifications using 3D spectroscopic single-molecule localization microscopy

  2025-03-19

  article

  Super-resolution microscopy has enabled studies that probe protein spatial distribution at the nanoscale. This, in turn, has made it possible to study the distribution of post-translational modifications in the nucleus. Cancer is associated with widespread alterations in gene expression. It is of interest to classify the resulting change in the spatial distribution of post-translational modifications. However, there is a lack of studies that examine the interactions of multiple histone modifications in a single nucleus. We quantified the individual distribution and clustering behaviors of H3K27me3 and H3K27ac and classified the level of contact between these histone modifications using spectroscopic single-molecule localization microscopy (sSMLM). We also associated the detected changes in these parameters with degrees of cancer malignancy and with drug-induced perturbations in methylation machinery.

  PublisherDOI

• Optimizing Sb2(S,Se)3 thin films: Synergistic tuning of Sb/S ratio and selenization temperature for enhanced quality and deep-trapped defects control

  Journal of Alloys and Compounds · 2025-12-15

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Mediterranean rapid warming drives abrupt runoff decline in South China around 2002

  Journal of Hydrology Regional Studies · 2025-09-25

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  South China is located in humid region. Decadal Abrupt Changes (DACs) in regional hydroclimate significantly impact water resources and ecosystem stability. This study investigated a pronounced DAC in summer runoff over South China around 2002 with moving t-test technique, characterized by an abrupt transition to reduced runoff. We explored the teleconnection mechanisms linking this hydrological shift with concurrent Mediterranean Sea surface temperature (SST) rapid warming using comprehensive observational analysis, Random Forest model, and the SPEEDY-Vegas coupled model, supplemented by 16 Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) model validations. Results revealed a significant summer runoff decreased DAC around 2002 across the region. Concurrent Mediterranean SST exhibited a warming DAC, demonstrating a latent temporal synchronization. Random Forest analysis identified precipitation changes as the primary driver. The SPEEDY-Vegas model experiments successfully reproduced the observed runoff DAC when forced with realistic Mediterranean SST warming patterns. Both model and observational results revealed the physical mechanism: Mediterranean warming triggers an eastward-propagating atmospheric wave train that establishes an anomalous high-pressure system over East Asia, inducing regional moisture divergence and enhanced surface drying. AMIP model ensemble (16 models) further confirmed this teleconnection pathway. This circulation anomaly ultimately drives a reduction in regional moisture convergence, explaining the observed runoff decline. These findings demonstrate a teleconnection pathway through which Mediterranean warming modulates East Asian decadal hydroclimate via atmospheric wave dynamics and land-atmosphere feedbacks. • A decline Decadal Abrupt Change (DAC) in summer runoff occurred over South China around 2002, mainly driven by precipitation. • Concurrent Mediterranean Sea Surface Temperature (SST) DAC triggers the local atmospheric pattern shifts. • Numerical experiment shows Mediterranean warming triggers a wave train establishing anomalous high-pressure over East Asia.

  PublisherDOI

• Stray light suppression design of optomechanical systems enabled by deep reinforcement learning

  Applied Optics · 2025-03-27 · 1 citations

  article

  Stray light suppression is a vital component in the development of optomechanical systems, but its complexity and the uncertainty surrounding scattered light require intricate mathematical calculations and a large number of simulation iterations, along with much expertise and time. Consequently, it is time-consuming and challenging to investigate the stray light suppression in optomechanical systems. To validate the feasibility of using reinforcement learning for stray light suppression, this paper adopts a model-based deep reinforcement learning method within a Monte Carlo ray-tracing environment to devise suppression strategies. The experimental results indicate that the model-based deep reinforcement learning method can provide effective stray light suppression measures for various optical system configurations, leading to significant improvements in suppression efficiency.

  PublisherDOI

• Integrated two-photon and photoacoustic microscopy for neurovascular imaging

  2025-03-20

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Integrated visible-light optical coherence tomography and fluorescence scanning laser ophthalmoscopy to image retinal ganglion cell axons

  Biomedical Optics Express · 2025-06-13 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) soma and axonal damage is a hallmark of optic neuropathies. Visible-light OCT fibergraphy (vis-OCTF) enables non-invasive imaging and quantitative assessment of individual RGC axon bundles; however, validating vis-OCTF using confocal fluorescence imaging of flat-mounted postmortem retina is less accurate due to structural alterations caused by flat-mount preparation and cannot be performed longitudinally. For in vivo vis-OCTF validation, we developed an integrated visible-light optical coherence tomography (vis-OCT) and fluorescence scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) system. The vis-OCT had a 100 nm bandwidth with a center wavelength of 560 nm, offering an axial resolution of 1.3 µm in the retina. The lateral resolutions of vis-OCT and SLO were 4 µm and 3.5 µm, respectively. In the transgenic Eno2-YFP mice, we showed that vis-OCTF and SLO provide consistent RGC axon bundle imaging results. Measuring 30 axon bundle widths from six mice yielded a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.991 between SLO and vis-OCTF. Thus, the combined SLO and vis-OCT can potentially achieve multimodal longitudinal in vivo studies of RGC pathologies.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: A Hybrid Approach for Flexible Nanomanufacturing - Maskless Plasmonic Nano-Lithography

  NSF · $400k · 2010–2015

• Development of spectroscopic Single-Molecule Localization Microscopy

  NIH · $1.2M · 2020–2025

• Collaborative Research: Manipulating Terehertz wave using three-dimensional metamaterials

  NSF · $223k · 2012–2015

• IDR: Engineering Electroactive-Polymer-Based Phononic Crystals as a Sustainable Energy Source

  NSF · $599k · 2011–2015

• SNM: Robust Scalable Nanomanufacturing of Photonic Structures

  NSF · $1.5M · 2015–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Xiang Zhang

  Shanghai Jiao Tong University

  81 shared

• Hao F. Zhang

  76 shared

• Biqin Dong

  Fudan University

  47 shared

• Yuan Wang

  Jiangsu University

  25 shared

• Guillermo A. Ameer

  Northwestern University

  25 shared

• Henry Oliver T. Ware

  Northwestern University

  25 shared

• Xiangfan Chen

  Arizona State University

  24 shared

• Zhaowei Liu

  24 shared

Labs

• Sun, Cheng Research GroupPI

Awards & honors

• 2010 NSF CAREER award