Jia Chen

Jiahuan Chen is a technologist in charge in the State Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College.

She started her research training (Master degree) at North West Agriculture and Forestry University, where she focused on stem cell biology (2008 to 2011). After working in a bio-company for about two years (2011 to 2013), she decided to return to academia and pursuit her PhD degree on immunology at School of Medicine Tsinghua University. Her thesis focused on biophysical aspects of regulation T cell (Treg) function. She probed the binding force between two cells directly by using atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based single-cell force spectroscopy (SCFS). She found that Treg cells displays an unusually high binding strength to dendritic cells (DCs) compared to conventional T cells. This binding blocked DCs’ ability to present antigens to other T cells, thus revealing a biophysical aspect of Treg cell biology. She obtained her Ph.D. in 2018 from the Tsinghua University. And in the same year, she was recruited as a technologist in charge at Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Her current work focused on the application and development of new technologies in the field of biomedical research.