Dr. Chen received her Bachelor degree in Biochemistry from Occidental College in 1983 and her doctorate degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Southern California in 1990. She joined Dr. Melvin I. Simon’s laboratory in the Biology Division as a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech in 1990, and from 1995 rose through the ranks from Assistant to Full Professor at the University Southern California. She has received consistent funding from the NIH and private foundations and has served as a permanent and ad hoc member of NIH study sections.