Faculty Spotlight: Andrew Cheng, MD

Ten years ago, as a pediatric cardiology fellow at CHLA, Andrew Cheng, MD, was struck by the wide range of outcomes in patients who had undergone the Fontan procedure—the last of three surgeries to re-route blood flow in children born with a single-ventricle heart defect.

“I wondered, what makes these patients so different?” he says. “Why can one child do fantastic, while another needs a heart transplant before they finish elementary school?”

Dr. Cheng’s research is exploring a potential answer to that question: how blood viscosity (thickness) affects blood flow through the lungs in these patients. “When blood flows more slowly, it becomes thicker, and when it flows more quickly, it becomes thinner. In the Fontan circulation, since the heart does not pump blood through the lungs, blood thickens and flows slowly,” he explains. Could thicker, slower blood flow lead to worse outcomes?

Funded by a five-year K23 career development grant from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Cheng is using MRI techniques to examine blood flow in children with the Fontan circulation. The team then uses computational fluid dynamic modeling to simulate how changes in blood thickness affect this flow. Early findings suggest blood thickness varies widely among patients and is associated with exercise capacity.

“The goal is to develop an imaging biomarker that could tell us if a child is at increased risk of abnormal blood flow and Fontan failure,” he explains. “Understanding this relationship could also help inform future interventions.”

The work is a perfect fit for Dr. Cheng, whose love of science dates back to elementary school. In college, he majored in computer science and electrical engineering, while also taking pre-med courses.

He joined CHLA as faculty in 2016. “This is my dream job,” Dr. Cheng says. “I get to take care of patients and families for whom I care deeply, while collaborating with amazing colleagues across the hospital and USC. I am grateful for this opportunity.”

Outside of work, his life revolves around his family. He and his husband have a 4-year-old son and a golden retriever puppy. “The two of them keep us on our toes!” he says with a laugh. “It’s a lot of fun.”