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About George Z. Cheng, MD, PhD

George Cheng, MD, PhD, is a board-certified pulmonologist who specializes in interventional pulmonology. He performs minimally invasive procedures for diagnosis and treatment of lung and pleural diseases. These include malignant and benign diseases of the lung, such as lung cancer, sarcoidosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis and other conditions.

Dr. Cheng specializes in treating airway problems such as airway tumors, airway narrowing, asthma, COPD, and pleural disease (i.e. fluid around the lung) with minimally invasive approaches. He serves as the medical director of interventional pulmonary, bronchoscopy and pleural services. Dr. Cheng enjoys having a close relationship with his patients and derives great pleasure in seeing them improve in their breathing after treatment.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Cheng was a faculty member at Duke University with appointments in both the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, in Durham, N.C.

In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Cheng has performed significant research in technology and clinical innovations within interventional pulmonology. He received the CIMIT (Consortia for Improving Medicine with Innovation & Technology) Young Clinician Award from Harvard Medical School for his work on development of 3D printing-guided personalized airway prostheses. Through fostering collaborations with engineering groups, he has also developed models to test both SLIPS-augmented bronchoscopes and elastin-based photocurable elastic glue as a surgical suture replacement, which resulted in multiple patents and papers.

Dr. Cheng completed a pulmonary/critical care medicine fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Combined Pulmonary Critical Care Training Program and an interventional pulmonology fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where he also completed his residency in internal medicine. Dr. Cheng earned his medical and doctoral degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine He is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease and critical care medicine.

He is also a diplomate of the American Association of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology.

Outside of work, Dr. Cheng enjoys spending time with his family, photography, cooking, skiing, scuba diving, and reading about new technology developments. He speaks fluent Mandarin.

UC San Diego Health Links
For more information, see Lung Diseases & Respiratory Care. and Interventional Pulmonology.

Medical DegreeMount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NYResidencyHarvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MAFellowshipHarvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MAFellowshipHarvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MADoctoral DegreeMount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
GenderMale
LanguagesMandarin
Date Joined Staff2019-12-04
Board Certifications
American Board of Internal MedicinePulmonary DiseaseCritical Care Medicine
Conditions and Treatments
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
  • Asthma
  • Lung Cancer
  • Interventional Pulmonology
  • Ultrasound-Guided Biopsies
  • Pleural Diseases
  • Sarcoidosis
  • Airway Tumors
  • Airway Narrowing
  • Lung Diseases
  • Pulmonary Fibrosis
  • Minimally Invasive Techniques
  • Endobronchial Ultrasound Bronchoscopy (EBUS)
PULMONOLOGY_(LUNG)
Cancer

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Open Payments Program Notification

For informational purposes only, a link to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments web page is provided here. The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires that detailed information about payment and other payments of value worth over ten dollars ($10) from manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologics to physicians and teaching hospitals be made available to the public.

View Open Payments Data for Dr. Cheng

Reviews

Ratings and comments are gathered from NRC Health patient experience surveys. Ratings are an average of all responses to the question, “How likely would you be to recommend this provider to your family and friends?” with 5 stars being the highest.

  • Recognition
    I was very impressed with Dr. Cheng after going to many doctors about my nodule that may be cancer and bronchoscopy and all that stuff.
    - Verified UCSD Patient
  • Comments
    Nothing more to say! It was all good!
    Recognition
    Everyone I came in contact with!!
    - Verified UCSD Patient
  • Comments
    Friendly welcoming comforting atmosphere. I feel they will take care of me and make it better!
    Recognition
    I am very bad with names,EVERYONE was nice courteous and helpful!! The Hospital was clean and it has a comforting atmosphere.
    - Verified UCSD Patient
  • Recognition
    Both Dr. Collin's and Dr. Cheng were very patient and caring.
    - Verified UCSD Patient
  • Comments
    Excellent
    Recognition
    Excellent service
    - Verified UCSD Patient