Dr.GENG Meiyu  is a professor and principle investigator of Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. She also serves as the secretary of the party committee and deputy director of the institute. Dr. Geng is a receipt of “National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars” and "Hundred Talents Program” of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Geng’s research has focused on the development of molecularly targeted therapies for cancer and Alzheimer's disease treatment. She has played a leading role in the development of four novel drug candidates. An oligosaccharide that targets β-amyloid protein for Alzheimer disease treatment is undergoing phase III clinical trial. The other three tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting c-Met, ALK or FGFR respectively are in preclinical studies.

Dr. GENG has published more than 100 research articles in peer-review journals including internationally well-recognized journals in the fields of tumor pharmacology and oncology, such as J Natl Cancer Inst, Cancer Res, Intl J Cancer, Oncotarget, Mol Pharmacol, J Biol Chem and J Med Chem. She also holds 12 domestic or international patents. Geng has received a number of national awards including “National Award for Technological Invention”, "Outstanding Academic Leader of Shanghai”, etc.. She is recognized as an expert with significant contributions by Chinese Academy of Sciences.

EDUCATION
1980.9-1989.7, Shandong Medical University,B.S. &M.A.
1993.10-1997.8, Tokyo University,Ph.D. 

WORK EXPERIENCE
1999.12-2006.5, Ocean University of China Professor
2006.5-present, Shanghai Institute of MateriaMedica Principal investigator, Professor
2011.5-2014.3,  Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica Deputy director, Deputy secretary of Party Committee
2014.3-present, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica Deputy director, Secretary of the party committee

1. Anti-Alzheimer's disease drug development by targeting β-amyloid protein
2. Tyrosine kinases inhibitors of c-Met, ALK and FGFR and the companion biomarkers for cancer therapy
3. Hsp90 inhibitors and the companion biomarkers for cancer therapy
4. Therapeutic opportunities by targeting cancer metabolism 
5. Therapeutic opportunities by targeting cancer microenvironment

2009, Leading Researcher(Shanghai)
2009, National Award for Technological Invention, 1st Prize
2010, Outstanding Leading Scientist (Shanghai)
2010, WomenInnovation Award (Shanghai)
2011, Woman Pace-setterAward(Shanghai Women's Federation)
2013, Millions of Leading Engineering Talents, Chinese academy of Science

1. The first oligosaccharide inhibitor of β-amyloid protein, known as 971, was discovered and approved for clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease. Based on the completed phase II trial data, among the 255 patients tested, 971 was well tolerated. A striking 92.77% cognition improvement was observed in mild and moderate Alzheimer patient after 6-month treatment. Currently, phase III clinical study for 971 is underway. NDA filing in China is expected in late 2016.

2. An in-house platform consisting of enzymatic assay, cell-based assay and animal models for the discovery and development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors of c-Met, ALK and FGFR was established. This platform has produced a number of lead compounds with potent activity and drug-like properties(Org Biomol Chem 2013, J Med Chem 2012, J Med Chem 2011,Chem Eur J 2011) and over 10 patents have been filed. Among them, compounds SIMM244 and SAF189, which targets c-Met and ALK respectively, are undergoing preclinicalevaluaiton as drug candidates.

3.An oligomannurarate sulfate, designated as JG3, was identified as the inhibitor of heparanase.JG3 was the second reported heparanase inhibitor, with apparently superior anticancer properties to PI88, the first heparanase inhibitor (Cancer Res 2006). We further discovered that a JG3 analog, known as JG6, was able to inhibit cancer metastasis by targeting the actin-severing protein cofilin, which for the first time, verified the therapeutic opportunities by targeting cofilinfor cancer therapy (Oncotarget 2014).

4.The polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR), a transporter of the first-line antibodies in response to initial infection, was discovered as a prognostic biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Higher expression of pIgR was associated with the induction of epithelial–mesenchymal transition, early recurrence, metastatic progression and poor prognosis of HCC (J Natl Cancer Inst 2011; Am J Gastroeneterol 2006). Our study provided new insights into the role of pIgR beyond a mediator of immune surveillance but instead as a promoter of cancer progression. It is the first example demonstrating that the betray alof immune surveillance promoted cancer malignancy. The significance of the findings was highlighted in the Editorial in the same issue (J Natl Cancer Inst, 2011).

1. Minstry of Science and Technology, Biomarker discovery for molecularly targeted anticancer therapies and key technologies developmentfor biomarker detection, Project Leader, 2012.1-2015.12
2. Minstry of Science and Technology (973), Molecular mechanisms of immune modulatorsregulation and small moleculesintervention in tumor development, Project Leader, 2012.3-2016.12
3. National Natural Science Foundation of China, Molecular recognition and signal transduction of sugar chains in tumor development ,Project Leader, 2008.1-2011.12
4. Shanghai Science and Technology Community, Development of key technologies for efficacy and pharmacokinetics study in multi-targeted therapies, Project Leader, 2008.10-2010.9
5. Chinese Academy of Sciences “HundredTalents Program” of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Project Leader, 2008.1-2010.12

1. Ai J, Tang Q, Wu Y, Xu Y, Teng F, Zhou R, Gao X, Zhu Q, Yue X, Pan Q, Xu S, Li J, Huang M, Daugherty-Holtrop J, He Y, Xu H, Fan J, Ding J, Geng M*. The Role of Polymeric Immunoglobulin Receptor in Inflammation-Induced Tumor Metastasis of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2011; 103(22):1696-1712.

2. Huang M, Shen A, Ding J, Geng M*. Molecularly targeted cancer therapy: some lessons from the past decade. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2014; 35(1):41-50.

3. Zhao H, Liu H, Chen Y, Xin X, Li J, Hou Y, Zhang Z, Zhang X, Xie C, Geng M*, Ding J. Oligomannurarate sulfate, a novel heparanase inhibitor simultaneously targeting basic fibroblast growth factor, combats tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Cancer Research. 2006; 66(17):8779-8787.

4. Tang Q, Wang L, Tao K, Ge C, Li J, Peng Y, Jiang C, Geng M*. Expression of polymeric immunoglobulin receptor mRNA and protein in human paneth cells: Paneth cells participate in acquired immunity. Am J Gastroenterol. 2006; 101(7):1625-1632.

5. Huang X, Sun D, Pan Q, Wen W, Chen Y, Xin X, Huang M, Ding J, Geng M*. JG6, a novel marine-derived oligosaccharide, suppresses breast cancer metastasis via binding to cofilin. Oncotarget. 2014;5(11):3568-78. IF: 6.636

6. Du L, Ai J, Li D, Zhu T, Wang Y, Knauer M, Bruhn T, Liu H, Geng M*, Gu Q, Bringmann G. Aspergiolides C and D: spirocyclic aromatic polyketides with potent protein kinase c-Met inhibitory effects. Che. Eur J. 2011; 17(4):1319-1326.

7. Zhang J, Xin X, Chen Q, Xie Z, Gui M, Chen Y, Lin L, Feng J, Li Q, Ding J, Geng M*. Oligomannurarate sulfate sensitizes cancer cells to doxorubicin by inhibiting atypical activation of NF-kappa B via targeting of Mre11. Int J Cancer. 2012; 130(2):467-477.

8. Yang S, Zhang X, Ai J, Gan L, Xu J, Wang Y, Su Z, Wang L, Ding J, Geng M*, Yue J. Potent HGF/c-Met axis inhibitors from Eucalyptus globulus: the coupling of phloroglucinol and sesquiterpenoid is essential for the activity. J Med Chem. 2012; 55(18):8183-8187.

9. Huang X, Pan Q, Sun D, Chen W, Shen A, Huang M, Ding J, Geng M*. O-GlcNAcylation of cofilin promotes breast cancer cell invasion. J Biol Chem. 2013; 288(51):36418-36425.

10. Zhu C, Chen Q, Xie Z, Ai J, Tong L, Ding J, Geng M*. The role of histone deacetylase 7 (HDAC7) in cancer cell proliferation: regulation on c-Myc. J Mol Med. 2011; 89(3):279-289.