He is the co-inventor of 19 patents and has over 100 publications. He received a Prostate Cancer Foundation Competitive Award in 2007, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2008, Teaching Excellence Awards at UIUC in 2008-2010, a Xerox Award for Outstanding Research at UIUC in 2010, and a NIH Director’s New Innovator Award in 2010. He is appointed as an Associate of Center for Advanced Study in 2014. Dr. Cheng is an Associate Editor of Biomaterials Science, Royal Society of Chemistry.