People

Our team is a fun and collaborative group

We are looking for dynamic and motivated researchers to join our team.

Explore our positions!

Meet the Principal Investigator

Zhijian "James" Chen, Ph.D.

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Sciences

Director, Center for Inflammation Research
Professor, Department of Molecular Biology

Professor, Center for Genetics of Host Defense
Member, National Academy of Sciences

Member, National Academy of Medicine

Fellow, Royal Society
Information about Dr. Chen's education and honors can be found via the link below.

HHMI Biography

Current Lab Members

Lijun ‘Josh’ Sun, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Ph.D., Chinese Academy of Science

B.S., Shandong University

Tuo Li, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Ph.D., Princeton University

B.S., Peking University

Chee-Kwee Ea, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

B.S., Tatung University

Ishmael Dehghan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Ph.D. Ferdowsi University

Zhiqun Zeng

Research Associate

B.S., Hunan Medical University

Fenghe Du, M.D.

Research Scientist

M.D., Beijing Medical University

Chenglong Sun, Ph.D.

Instructor

Ph.D., Aarhus University

B.S., M.S., Jilin University

Anli Zhang, Ph.D.

Instructor 

Ph.D., Fudan University

Houssam Al-Saad, M.S.

Mouse Research Manager 

M.S., Liberty University

B.S. University of Texas at Arlington

Swapneel Patel, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Instructor

Ph.D., Immunology, Washington University in St. Louis

M.D., Washington University in St. Louis

M.S., Biochemistry, California State University

B.S., Physics and Chemistry, California State University

Ethan A. Perets, Ph.D.

Michael Brown Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation

Ph.D., Yale University, Chemistry

M.A., The Courtauld Institute of Art, History and Conservation of Buddhist Art

B.A., Columbia University, Biochemistry

Jiaxing Tan, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Ph.D., Zhejiang University

B.S., Tianjin Medical University

Zihang Chen, M.D.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

M.D., Sun Yat-sen University

Minglu Yan, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Ph.D. The University of Tokyo

Yan Liu, Ph.D.

Assistant Instructor

Ph.D., Tsinghua University

B.S., Shanghai Jiaotong University

Ruoshi Peng, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Ph.D., University of Oxford

B.S., Peking University

Qinglin Yang, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Ph.D., Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science (CEMCS), CAS

B.S., China Agricultural University

Tianlei Cheng

Graduate student

B.S., University of Science and Technology of China

Menghang Huang, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Ph.D., Tsinghua University

B.S., Nanjing Agricultural University

Lab Alumni

Name                       Position when at Chen Lab                    Current Affiliation

  1. Anirban Adhikari, Postdoc when at Chen lab, TCG Labs Soleil
  2. Giridhar Akkaraju, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Texas Christian University
  3. Vijay Bhoj, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, University of Pennsylvania Hospital
  4. Xin Cai, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
  5. Haocheng Cai, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
  6. Jueqi Chen, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, University of Chicago
  7. Xiang Chen, Staff when at Chen lab, retired
  8. Philip Cheng, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Private practice
  9. Yu-Hsin Chiu, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Novartis
  10. Li Deng, Postdoc when at Chen lab, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
  11. Mingjian Du, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Columbia University
  12. Yan Fang, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
  13. Yajuan Fu, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Fujian Normal University
  14. Daxing Gao, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, University of Science and Technology of China
  15. Xiang Gui, Graduate Student when at Chen lab
  16. Mei Hong, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Attorney at Law
  17. Fajian Hou, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  18. Shuiqing Hu, Postdoc when at Chen lab, BeiGene
  19. Hon-Ren Huang, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Novartis
  20. Tuozhi Huang, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, University of California, Los Angeles
  21. Qianwen Huang, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Xiamen University
  22. Justin Jenson, Postdoc when at Chen lab, UNC School of Medicine
  23. Xiaomo Jiang, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Novartis Pharmaceuticals
  24. Atsuhiro Kanayama, Postdoc when at Chen lab, National Defense Medical College, Japan
  25. Tong Li, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Xiangya Hospital Central South University
  26. Minghao Li, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Bristol Myers Squibb
  27. Xiao-Dong Li, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Takeda Pharmaceuticals
  28. Siqi Liu, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
  29. Hong-Hsing Liu, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine of Taiwan
  30. Gabriel Pineda, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, National University
  31. Junyao Ren, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Meta-IO Technology
  32. Rashu Seth, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Yale University School of Medicine
  33. Peiqing Shi, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Sonofi
  34. Qian Shi, Staff when at Chen lab
  35. Brian Skaug, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Division of Rheumatology, UTHealth Houston
  36. Erika Spencer, Staff when at Chen lab
  37. Qinmiao Sun, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Institute of Zoology
  38. Pengcheng Sun, Postdoc when at Chen lab
  39. Xiaojun Tan, Postdoc when at Chen lab, University of Pittsburg
  40. Yasuo Tanaka, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Japan Institute for Health Security
  41. Nicole Varnado, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, UT Southwestern Medical School
  42. Min Wang, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Wuhan University
  43. Hua Wang, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Private practice
  44. Hanze Wang, Graduate Student when at Chen lab
  45. Chen Wang, Postdoc when at Chen lab, China Pharmaceutical University
  46. Junjiao Wu, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Xiangya Hospital Central South University
  47. Jiaxi Wu, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Regeneron
  48. Youtong Wu, Postdoc when at Chen lab, ImmuneSensor Therapeutics
  49. Zong-Ping Xia, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University
  50. Ming Xu, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Transamerica Life Insurance Company
  51. Hui Xu, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Gilead
  52. Hui Yang, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Fudan University
  53. Seoyun Yum, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Roche
  54. Wenwen Zeng, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, Tsinghua University
  55. Conggang Zhang, Postdoc when at Chen lab, Tsinghua University
  56. Xu Zhang, Postdoc when at Chen lab, University of Texas Austin
  57. Meng Zhao, Graduate Student when at Chen lab, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center