Cheng Shi

Selected Publications:

Shi, C. and Murphy, C. T., "Sex and death." (2020) Current Topics in Developmental Biology 144, 353-375.

Shi, C., Booth, L., and Murphy, C. T. "Insulin-like peptides and the mTOR-TFEB pathway protect C. elegans hermaphrodites from Mating-induced Death" (2019) eLife 8, e46413.

Shi, C., Runnels, A., and Murphy, C. T., "Mating and Male pheromone kill Caenorhabditis males through distinct mechanisms" (2017) eLife 6, e23493.

Shi, C. and Murphy, C. T., "Mating Induces Shrinking and Death in Caenorhabditis Mothers." (2014) Science 343(6170): 536-540.

Ph.D., Princeton University

My lab's research studies the basic biology of the aging process. Aging is a universal phenomenon and is the main cause of many diseases including cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. Somatic aging is profoundly influenced by reproductive status, as the trade-off between reproduction and longevity is observed across the evolutionary spectrum. My lab is particularly interested in understanding how increased reproduction leads to decreased lifespan by studying the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. We use an interdisciplinary approach, combining biochemistry, genetics, transcriptomics, physiology, and metabolomics to investigate signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms that are involved in coordinating metabolism, reproduction, and longevity.