Tien is a first-generation immigrant from Taiwan, moving to the U.S. as a ten-year old in Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia, and subsequently Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Tien’s first contact with biomedical science came during his summer research internships at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the laboratory of Pamela Schwartzberg, MD/PhD. This was followed by training in the Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP), which sponsored full-time intramural research for medical students on campus at NIH. His clinical training took him to Columbia University Medical Center for residency in medicine and Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for clinical fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine. While at Penn, Tien did his postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Edward Morrisey, PhD, where he studied embryonic stromal progenitors and their progenies, including fibroblast lineages that were poorly defined.

Tien joined the Department of Medicine and the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UCSF in 2015. Tien is interested in how fibroblasts integrate extracellular cues to modify the tissue niche, with a particular focus on fibroblasts that support tissue-resident stem cells and immune cells. The Peng Lab utilize complex murine genetic models, organoid modeling, and advanced transcriptomics techniques to interrogate how fibroblasts maintain organ homeostasis, initiate disease, and drive tissue aging.  As a principal investigator, he has been recognized by the American Society of Clinical Investigators (Young Physician Scientist Award) and the NIH (New Innovator Award). He is also a proud mentor to several postdoctoral fellows who have started principal investigator positions to continue their studies in the stem cell niche.