Dr. Chen is currently Associate Professor at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) at the Human Genome Sequencing Center in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics. Dr. Chen received B.S. degree from Tsinghua University and Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Chen has extensive experiences in genetics and genomics, and currently serving as the director for the Single Cell Genomics Core at BCM.

Dr. Chen’s group focuses on understanding the genetics of inherited human retinal diseases (IRDs). As one of the first groups that applies the next generation sequencing technology to IRDs, comprehensive molecular screening have been performed for more than 4,500 patients recruited worldwide. So far, 14 novel IRD genes have been identified and published by Dr. Chen’s group. To investigate the disease mechanism at the molecular level, numerous mouse models that mimic human retina diseases have been generated for further mechanistic studies as well as developing novel treatments. Dr. Chen has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed articles in journals including Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Genetics, and Genome Research.

Terms of Appointment: Nov 2016 – Dec 2019