Dr. Hsien Chang Meng was professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Emeritus, and Professor of Surgery, Emeritus, at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Born in Hebei Province, China, he studied medicine at Cheeloo University Medical School in China and the University of Toronto, earning his M.D. from Toronto in 1941. He also earned a M.S. in 1946 and a Ph.D. in 1947, both from Northwestern University.

He joined the Department of Physiology at Vanderbilt in 1947, and his pioneering research helped to develop the field of parenteral nutrition. In 1961 and 1962, Meng served as a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1966, Dr. Meng founded the International Society of Parenteral Nutrition. He was also a member of several advisory committees for the Office of the Surgeon General, the American Medical Association, and the National Science Counsel, and was given awards by the AMA and American Chinese Medical Society for research achievement.

Following his retirement from Vanderbilt in 2000, Meng was a visiting professor at Veterans General Hospital, Tri-Service General Hospital, and National Defense Medical Center in Taiwan. He also helped found the Department of Nutrition at China Medical College in Taichung, Taiwan. He passed away in 2002.