Dr. Zhijian James Chen This is Me

Education

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1. 1. www.tamest.org

   www.tamest.org/award/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/28/2007   Last Visited: 6/28/2007

   Zhijian "James" Chen, Ph.D.
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   Zhijian "James" Chen is a Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He received his undergraduate degree in 1985 from the Fujian Normal University in China in Biology and his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo . He then spent a year at the Salk Institute as a post-doctoral fellow before beginning his independent career in 1992 as Research Scientist at Baxter Healthcare in Irvine, California and then Senior Scientist at ProScript, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1997, he joined the faculty of UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Chen's research focuses on understanding the mechanisms and pathways of ubiquitin signaling. His research has the potential to extend the role of ubiquitin signaling beyond inflammation and immunity, into the realm of growth control and cancer. Dr. Chen's work has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Searle Scholar Award (1998-2001), the Greater Dallas Asian Chamber of Commerce Award for Outstanding Contributions to Medicine (2003) and the Welch Foundation Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research

2. 2. www.aacr.org

   www.aacr.org/home/scientists/m - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/12/2007   Last Visited: 8/12/2007

   Zhijian James Chen, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX

3. 3. Page 2 @ hopeforhepcnews.bravehost.com - A Bravenet.com Hosted Site

   www.hopeforhepcnews.bravehost. - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/25/2005   Last Visited: 4/30/2006

   "This is the first mitochondrial protein known to be involved in immune defense against any microbial infection," said Dr. Zhijian "James" Chen, associate professor of molecular biology at UT Southwestern and the study's senior author.
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   levels of MAVS may endow different individuals with varying ability to fight off viral diseases," said Dr. Chen, who also is an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "Viruses have evolved along with humans and have developed strategies to evade the host's immunity. It's quite possible that some viruses may target MAVS in order to achieve successful infection. In those cases, therapies that enhance MAVS expression or activity may be a viable option for boosting immune responses against viral diseases."
   
   The fact that MAVS is located within the membrane of the mitochondrion makes sense for a couple of reasons, Dr. Chen said.
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   The fact that MAVS is located in the membrane of mitochondria suggests it may play a role in coordinating cell death and immune response, Dr. Chen said.
   
   Secondly, many scientists believe that mitochondria originally evolved from bacteria that lived within a host organism's cells, eventually developing a symbiotic relationship with host cells. Now that mitochondria are an integral part of our cells, Dr. Chen speculated that mitochondria may have acquired new functions by serving as a sentinel to detect invading pathogens and other stressful signals, ensuring that the host cells survive and thrive even in adverse environments.
   
   Dr. Chen and his research group are currently working to determine how the MAVS protein functions within the complex series of biochemical reactions that takes place when the body is infected with a virus.
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   Dr. Chen said he and his group believe MAVS is among a group of molecules that play a role in activating other proteins - including IRF-3 and NF-kappaB - that prod the cell into making interferon. He also said there is evidence that MAVS binds with RIG-I, but more experiments are needed to determine just how MAVS functions within the cell.