Ya-Wen Chen

Ya-Wen Chen, PhD

Ya-Wen Chen (Preferred Name)

  • ASSISTANT PROFESSOR | Otolaryngology
  • ASSISTANT PROFESSOR | Cell, Developmental & Regenerative Biology

Research Topics:

Antivirals, Biochemistry, Biomechanics/Bioengineering, Biomedical Sciences, Cell Biology, Cellular Differentiation, Developmental Biology, Differentiation, Enzymology, Epithelial Cells, Extracellular Matrix, Induced pluripotent stem cells, Infectious Disease, Influenza Virus, Lung, Membrane Proteins/Channels, Molecular Biology, Morphogenesis, Otolaryngology (ENT), Proteases, Protein Complexes, Protein Structure/Function, Regeneration, Respiratory, SARS Virus, Stem Cells, Tissue Engineering

Ya-Wen Chen, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology and Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is also a member of the Black Family Stem Cell Institute and Institute for Airway Science at Mount Sinai.

She pioneered the work in lung organoid development and directed differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells to respiratory epithelial cells. Her research focuses on applying human pluripotent stem cell-derived lung organoids as a model to better understand molecular mechanisms underlying lung regeneration and exploring the therapeutic applications of stem cell-derived lung progenitor cells.

After receiving her PhD in Molecular Medicine from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, she completed her postdoctoral work at the Columbia Center for Translational Immunology and Columbia Center for Human Development at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She was a Parker B. Francis Fellow, a Baxter Faculty Fellow, and a Catalyst Awardee, and recently became the Isidore Friesner Research Faculty.


Dr. Chen is also an active advocator for gender equality and LGBTQ rights.

 

Lab Websites:

https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/yawen-chen-lab/

https://icahn.mssm.edu/research/black-family-stem-cell/research/faculty

Multi-Disciplinary Training Areas

Development Regeneration and Stem Cells [DRS], Microbiology [MIC], Pharmacology and Therapeutics Discovery [PTD]

Education

BS, Tung-Hai University, Taiwan

MS, Georgetown University

PhD, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Postdoc, Columbia University Irving Medical Center