Heng Xu

With profound sadness, we announce the passing of Dr. Heng Xu on June 24, 2026, at the age of 84.

Dr. Xu was a distinguished pharmacologist whose career was dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of opioid addiction and substance use disorders. Before coming to the United States, she was a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, where she conducted research in pharmaceutical sciences and drug development.

In the early 1980s, Dr. Xu came to the United States as a visiting scientist at the National Institute of Mental Health and later continued her research career at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. Her work focused on the pharmacology of opioid addiction and substance use disorders, contributing to a deeper understanding of molecular mechanisms of opioid addiction and helping advance research in a field of critical importance to public health.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Dr. Xu was a woman of warmth, generosity, wisdom, resilience, and grace. She was a loving mother to Dr. Emily S. Boja, a devoted wife to Dr. Yiming Yang, and a cherished grandmother to Miss Arianna Boja. Her family was the center of her life, and she took immense pride in the accomplishments and happiness of those she loved.

Her journey from Shanghai to the United States reflected courage, determination, and a lifelong commitment to science, education, and service. Through her research, mentorship, and example, she touched the lives of colleagues, friends, and family across continents and generations.

Dr. Xu will be remembered not only for her scientific contributions but also for her kindness, humility, generosity, and unwavering devotion to her family. Her legacy lives on in the knowledge she helped advance, the family she nurtured, and the many lives she enriched.

She will be deeply missed and forever remembered.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Yiming Yang; her daughter and son-in-law, Drs. Emily S. Boja and John William Boja, and her granddaughter, Miss Arianna Boja.

May her memory be a blessing, and may she rest in peace.

“A life devoted to science, a heart devoted to family, and a legacy that will endure for generations.”

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