Zhijian James Chen

Zhijian James Chen is the George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science, director of the Inflammation Research Center, and a professor of molecular biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Chen received his PhD in biochemistry from SUNY Buffalo. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on the biochemical pathways of immunity. His research into complex cellular biochemistry has led to the discovery of pathways and proteins that trigger immune and stress responses. He has identified proteins, such as the mitochondrial protein MAVS, that are crucial to the body’s defense against RNA viruses such as influenza and Ebola. Dr. Chen was awarded with the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for elucidating how DNA triggers immune and autoimmune responses from the interior of a cell through the discovery of the DNA-sensing enzyme cGAS.