Shikun He

Shikun He, MD

Shikun He served as a professor at the Departments of Pathology and Ophthalmology at the University of Southern California, USA, from 2000 to 2019. He was a committee member of the Society for Ocular Pigment Cell Research (USA) and is a Member of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), USA, as well as a Member of the Epigenetic Research Society (USA). He was one of the initiators and organizers of initiated and co-organized the RPE Special Session at the National Congress of the Chinese Ophthalmological Society. He initiated and co-organized the Sino-American Ophthalmic Science Summit Forum with the Chinese Ophthalmological Society during the ARVO conference for fifteen consecutive years, providing a platform for Chinese eye care workers to showcase their research achievements and facilitate Sino-American ophthalmic cooperation and exchanges.

He has served as deputy editor of the International Journal of Biomedical Science and an editorial board member of the Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology. Currently, he serves on the editorial boards of journals such as the Chinese Journal of Experimental Ophthalmology, Chinese Journal of Occupational Eye Diseases, Chinese Journal of Optometry and Vision Science, Journal of Bimolecular Research & Therapeutic, Austin Journal of Clinical Pathology, Open Access Journal of Ophthalmology, Allied Journal of Clinical Pathology Research, and Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark.

His major publications include 'Fundamentals and Clinical Aspects of Retinal Pigment Epithelium' and 'Ophthalmic Epigenetics'. He contributed to the writing of 'Corneal Immunology' 'Ophthalmic Genetics', and 'Retinal Diseases'. He is also a major contributor to the chapter on epigenetics in the book 'Retina', edited by Steven Ryan, and one of the main translators of its first volume into Chinese. He serves as a reviewer for more than 30 English journals and as a reviewer for the Yangtze River Scholars Program. He has been appointed as a visiting or honorary professor in ophthalmology at five universities in China (Peking University People's Hospital Ophthalmology, Fourth Military Medical University Xijing Hospital Ophthalmology, Tianjin Medical University Eye Center, Third Military Medical University Southwest Hospital Ophthalmology, Zhengzhou University Henan Eye Institute). His main research achievements include the association between connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and the formation of PVR and CNV; the inhibition of choroidal neovascularization by soluble EphB4; the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress response in oxidative stress response in retinal pigment epithelial cells; the mechanism of alphaB-crystallin in regulating VEGF production; the association between epigenetic factor MeCP2 and retinal fibrosis. In 2008, the Chinese Medical Association Ophthalmological Society awarded Professor Shikun He the Outstanding Achievement Award in Overseas Chinese Ophthalmology.