Dr Lingfang Zeng graduated from Wuhan University with a BSc in Virology in 1987 and obtained an MSc degree from Wuhan University in Virology in 1990. He obtained his PhD degree from Beijing Normal University in Cell Biology in 1993. Following two-year experience of postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pathology in Beijing Medical University, he entered one enterprise of the Chinese Academy of Science. In 1997, he was appointed as an Associate Professor in Beijing Normal University. From 2000 to 2007, he travelled around and conducted research in  Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, USA, and St George’s University of London and King’s College London. He was appointed as a Non-Clinical Lecturer in the Cardiovascular Division in King’s College London in 2007 and became an independent principal investigator to create his own research activities. Research Areas Stem/progenitor cell differentiation ER stress Epigenetic modification Signal transduction and gene expression Research interests The alternative transcription, splicing and translation regulation of gene expression. Nested intronic genes Small non-coding RNAs and small peptides.