Name: Tom K. Hei
Academic Title: Chang Jiang Chair Professor
Email: tomkhei@suda.edu.cn
Address: Medical Building 402-2301, North District of Dushu Lake Campus
Contact Phone: +86 512 65880060
See also: https://www.crr.columbia.edu/profile/tom-k-hei-phd
Ⅰ、Educational and Professional Experience
1、Educational Background：
1977.9-1983.3 Case Western Reserve University, Ph.D. Experimental Pathology
1974.1-1977.5 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, B.Sc. Biology/ Chemistry
2、Professional Experience：
2023.7-present Professor Emeritus of Radiation Oncology and Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia Univ.
2014.2-2024.4 Adjunct Chair Professor, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow Univ.
2008.6-2023.7 Vice-chairman, Department of Radiaton Oncology, Columbia Univ.
2008.2-2023.7 Associate Director, Center for Radiological Res. Columbia Univ.
2008.6-2011.3 Deputy Director, NIEHS Center for Environmental Research, Columbia Univ.
2007.6-2014.1 Adjunct Professor and Ph.D. mentor, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow Univ.
1999.4-2023.7 Professor of Radiation Oncology and Environmental Health Sciences (Tenured), Columbia Univ.
1996.7-1999.3 Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Environmental Health Sciences with Tenure, Columbia Univ.
1996.5-2022.5 Adjunct Professor and Ph.D. mentor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China
1994.4-2012.9 Adjunct Professor of Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State Univ. Fort Collins, CO.
1994.7-1996.6 Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology with Tenure, Columbia Univ.
1987.4-1994.6 Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, Columbia Univ.
1984.7-1987.3 Associate Research Scientist, Radiological Res. Laboratory, Columbia Univ.
1983.4-1984.6 Research Associate, Radiological Res. Laboratory, Columbia Univ.
1979.3-1983.3 Graduate Research Assistant, Case Western Reserve Univ.
Ⅱ、Research Focus
1、Low Dose and Extranuclear and extracellular effects of ionizing radiation
- Wu, L.J., Randers-Pehrson, G., Waldren, C.A., Geard, C.R., Yu, Z.Y., and Hei, T.K.Targeted cytoplasmic irradiation by alpha particles induces gene mutations. Proc. National Academy Science U.S.A. 1999, 96: 4959-4964. PMCID: PMC21799
- Zhou, H.N., Randers-Pehrson, G., Waldren, C.A., Vannais, D., Hall, E.J. and Hei, T.K. Induction of a bystander mutagenic effect of alpha particles in mammalian cells. Proc. National Academy Science U.S.A.2000, 97: 2099-2104. PMCID: PMC15760
- Zhou, H.N., Ivanov, V., Gillespie, J., Geard, C.R., Amundson, S.A., Lieberman, H.B., and Hei, T.K. Mechanism of radiation induced bystander effect: role of COX-2 signaling pathway. Proc. National Academy Science U.S.A. 2005, 102: 14641-14646. PMCID: PMC 1253564
2、Genotoxic and carcinogenic mechanisms of environmental toxins
- Hei, T.K., Liu, S.X., and Waldren, C.A. Mutagenicity of arsenic in mammalian cells: Role of reactive oxygen species. Proc. National Academy Science U.S.A.1998,95:8103-8107. PMCID: PMC20936.
- Liu, S.X., Athar, M., Lippai, I., Waldren, C.A., and Hei, T.K. Induction of oxyradicals by arsenic: implications for mechanisms of genotoxicity. Proc. National Academy Science U.S.A.2001, 98: 1643-1648. PMCID: PMC29310.
- Xu, A., Wu, L.J., Santella, R., and Hei, T.K. Role of oxyradicals in mutagenicity and DNA damage induced by asbestos in mammalian cells. Cancer Research1999, 59: 5615-5624. PMID: 10606236
3、Mechanism of Radiation Carcinogenesis
- Hei, T.K., Piao, C.Q., Willey, J.C., Thomas, S., and Hall, E.J., Malignant transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells by radon-simulated alpha particles. Carcinogenesis 1994, 15: 431-437. PMID: 8118924
- Zhang, Y., Wen, G.Y., Shao, G., Wang, C.D., Lin, C. S., Bhagat, G., Balajee, A., *Hei, T.K., and *Zhao, Y.L. BigH3 deficiency induces genomic instability and predisposes mice to spontaneous tumor development. Cancer Research 2009,69:37-44. PMCID: PMC2664305
- Ye LF, Chaudhary KR, Zandkarimi F, Harken AD, Kinslow CJ, Upadhyayula PS, Dovas A, Higgins DM, Tan H, Zhang Y, Buonanno M, Wang TJC, Hei TK, Bruce JN, Canoll PD, Cheng SK, Stockwell BR. Radiation-Induced Lipid Peroxidation Triggers Ferroptosis and Synergizes with Ferroptosis Inducers. ACS Chem Biol. 2020, 15(2):469-484. PMCID: PMC7180072
Ⅲ、Project/Honor/Award
1、2019-present President, Radiation Research Foundation
2、2017 Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc) Degree, Amity University.
3、2017 Distinguished Alumni Award for Professional Achievements, Univ. Wisconsin-Whitewater
4、2012-Present Overseas Expert Panel, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
5、1976 Summa Cum Laude, University of Wisconsin Board of Regents
Ⅳ、Academic Part-time Roles & Student Guidance Outcomes
Since 1996 when Dr. Tom K. Hei was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hefei, he has held many honorary appointments both inside and outside of the U.S. He was the Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba, Japan (2008-2015). As an Adjunct Professor of Radiation Medicine and Public Health of Soochow University (2007 onward). Educationally, Dr. Hei was elected Educator of the Year by the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology in 2008. Dr. Hei was the past president of the U.S. Radiation Research Society and has many years of experience in mentoring doctoral, medical, clinical radiation oncology residents and postdoctoral research fellows, many of whom are now leaders in their own fields around the world.
Ⅴ、Recent Five-Year Representative Research Outcomes
1、Wang X, Nie Y, Si B, Wang T, Hei TK, Zhao G, Chen S, Xu A and Liu Y. Silver nanoparticles protect against arsenic induced genotoxicity via attenuating arsenic bioaccumulation and elevating antioxidation in mammalian cells. J. Hazard. Materials 2021, Jul 5;413:125287. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat. 2021.125287. Epub 2021 Feb 5. PMID: 33930940
2、 Cucinotta FA, Schimmerling W, Blakely EA, Hei TK. A proposed change to astronaut exposures limits is a giant leap backwards for radiation protection.Life Sci Space Res (Amst) 2021, 31:59-70. PMID: 34689951
3、Zheng L, Luo C, Yang N, Pei H, Ji M, Shu Y, Zhang Z, Dong S, Wang X, Li X, Zhang W, Wang Y, Li B, Hei TK, Zhou G, Chang L. Ionizing radiation-induced long noncoding RNA CRYBG3 regulates YAP/TAZ through mechanotransduction.Cell Death Dis. 2022, 13(3):209. PMID: 35246511
4、Yang M, Fan Q, Hei TK, Chen G, Cao W, Meng G, Han W. Single-Cell Transcriptome Analysis of Radiation Pneumonitis Mice.Antioxidants 2022, Jul 26;11(8):1457. doi: 10.3390/antiox11081457. PMID: 35892659
5、Chaudhary KR, Kinslow CJ, Cheng H, Silva JM, Yu J, Wang TJ, Hei TK, Halmos B, Cheng SK. (2022) Smurf2 inhibition enhances chemotherapy and radiation sensit ivity in non-small-cell lung cancer.Sci Rep. Jun 16;12(1):10140. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-144488. PMID: 35710591
6、Guo Z, Buonanno M, Harken A, Zhou G, Hei TK.Mitochondrial Damage Response and Fate of Normal Cells Exposed to FLASH Irradiation with Protons.Radiat Res. 2022, 197(6):569-582. PMID: 35290449
7、 Pei H, Dai Y, Yu Y, Tang J, Cao Z, Zhang Y, Li B, Nie J, Hei TK*, Zhou G*. The Tumorigenic Effect of lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 is Mediated by Translated Peptide ATMLP Under the Control of m6 A Methylation. Adv Sci. 2023, May;10(13):e2300314. doi: 10.1002/advs.202300314. PMID: 36871154
8、Padilla O, Minns HE, Wei HJ, Fan WJ, Webster-Carrion A, Tazhibi M, McQuillan NM, Zhang X, Gallitto, M, yeh R, Zhang ZG, Hei, TK and 13 others. Immune Response following FLASH and Conventional Radiation in Diffuse Midline Glioma. Int. J. Radiation Oncology. Biology. Physics. 2024, 119(4):1248-1260. PMID: 38364947
9、Huang H, Xu Y, Guo Z, Zhang, MM, Li WS, Song YD, Nie J, Hu WT, Hei TK and Zhou GM. Irradiation-responsive PRDM10-DT modulates the angiogenic response in human NSCLC cells in an SP1-dependent manner via the miR-663a/TGF-β1 axis. J Transl Med. 2025, Feb 27;23(1):235. doi: 10.1186/s12967-025-06273-0. PMID: 40016776
10、Song, SY, Hei TK, Gong XZ, Tetramethylpyrazine attenuates sodium arsenite-induced acute kidney injury by improving the autophagic flux blockade via a YAP1-Nrf2-p62-dependent mechanism. Int J Biol Sci 2025, 21: 1158-1173. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.104107. PMID: 39897028