Changwei Chen

Biography

Changwei Chen joined the University of Dundee in February 2000 after completing his PhD study in immunology/biochemistry at the University of Wales, Swansea. From 2000 to 2010, he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Radiation Leukaemogenesis Laboratory within the Medical School at Dundee University, led by Prof. Eric Wright. He undertook and successfully completed 3 major research projects: i) proteomic analyses of bone marrow and its response to ionizing radiation supported in part by the UK Medical Research Council and the Leukemia Research Fund; ii) identification of disease- and therapy-associated proteome changes in the sera of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes and del(5q) supported by Leukemia Research Fund; iii) a proteomic study of genotype-dependent response to ionizing radiation, which is associated with radiation leukaemogenesis. His contributions to these projects were comprehensive and substantial from project design through to the generation of data for publication. In September 2010, he joined Prof. Susann Schweiger’s group, investigating the actions of novel compounds that interfere with the protein synthesis from mRNA with expanded CAG repeats. The goal of this research was to identify potential protein drug targets for the development of therapies for CAG-repeat expansion disorders such as Huntington’s disease and spinocerebellar ataxia 2. Currently he is working on a collaborative project with the Pharmaceutical Industry under the supervision of Prof Schweiger, Prof. Lambert and Dr Langston to generate an orally delivered medicine that slows the progression of Huntington’s disease in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Research Interest

Huntington’s disease is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by a mutation of the Huntington gene, resulting in aberrant huntingin protein production and aggregation. Changwei’s current research focuses on developing in vitro assays in cell lines and in neurons that permits quantification of the production of normal and mutant huntingtin protein, so that the impact of novel compounds upon protein synthesis can be determined. One of the assays he has developed, together with Dr. Monteiro, allows the monitoring of normal and mutant Huntington protein production in real time both in cell lines and in neurons.