Earl Y. Cheng, MD

Earl Y. Cheng, MD, is an Attending Physician in the Division of Urology at Lurie Children's, Co-director of complex urinary tract reconstruction, and Professor of Urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Cheng received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Northwestern University. He completed residency training at Northwestern University Medical School where he received the Leander Riba award for outstanding resident. Following residency, he completed a fellowship in pediatric urology at Children's Memorial Hospital during which he was named a scholar of the American Foundation for Urologic Disease and participated in a physician/scientist training grant from the NIH. After fellowship, he stayed at Northwestern University Medical School and Children's Memorial Hospital from 1996 to 1998 as an assistant professor and established a basic science Pediatric Urology Research Laboratory at Children's Memorial. From 1998 to 2002 Dr. Cheng was at the Children's Hospital of Oklahoma and Oklahoma University Medical Center, where he also served as an assistant professor of urology. Dr. Cheng returned to Northwestern and Children's Memorial Hospital in 2002.

Dr. Cheng is member of numerous societies including the Society for Pediatric Urology, American Academy of Pediatrics, Society of Fetal Urology, and American College of Surgeons. He is the author of over 100 papers, invited articles, and book chapters. Dr. Cheng currently serves or served as a member of the Society of Pediatric Urology Executive Committee, the Executive Committee of the Section of Urology of the American Association of Pediatrics, the Exam Committee of the American Board of Urology, the Editorial Committee of the Journal of Urology, and the Professional Advisory Council of the Spina Bifida Association of America. His areas of special interest include complex urinary tract reconstruction, surgical management of the neurogenic bladder, bladder exstrophy, genital reconstruction, and disorders of sex development.

Dr. Cheng's basic science research is in the areas of tissue engineering and bladder physiology. He is currently collaborating with Dr. Samuel Stupp, a leader in the field of nanotechnology and Dr. Arun Sharma who heads the Basic Science Laboratory for Pediatric Urology and Regenerative Medicine. Together, they are investigating different methods of promoting tissue specific regeneration in the urinary tract with an emphasis on bladder regeneration.