Henry Heng

Henry HQ Heng is a professor of molecular medicine and genetics and of pathology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Heng first received his PhD from the University of Toronto Hospital for Sick Children in 1994, mentored by Lap-Chee Tsui. He then completed his post-doc under Peter Moens at York University, before joining the Wayne State University School of Medicine faculty.

Heng's lab is dedicated to researching a wide variety of topics ranging from genomics, evolution, and cancer, using their new framework: the Genome Architecture Theory (GAT). The Genome Architecture Theory focuses more on a genome or chromosome-oriented approach to biology, in contrast to the traditional gene-oriented approach. Major tenets of the framework include genome topology, the idea that there is an emergent level of information from the order of genes on a chromosome, two-phased evolution, a model of evolution proposing a punctuated and gradual phase in evolution using cancer evolution as a model, and genome chaos, an overarching phenomenon of genomic instability that results from stress and can rearrange the genome, characterized by non-clonal chromosomal aberrations (NCCAs).

In 2015, he wrote his first book, ''Debating Cancer: The Paradox in Cancer Research''. His second book, ''Genome Chaos: Rethinking Genetics, Evolution, and Molecular Medicine'', published in 2019, was a PROSE Awards finalist in 2020. For his book, he was presented the 2020 Wayne State Board of Governors’ award.

He formerly served as co-editor-in-chief of the journal ''Molecular Cytogenetics''. Provided by Wikipedia