Jia Chen

Biography

Dr. Jia Chen obtained his bachelor's degree at Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nankai University in 2002 and then obtained his Ph. D. at Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2009. From 2009-2014, Dr. Chen received his postdoctoral training in National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health. Since November 2014, Dr. Chen joined ShanghaiTech University as a tenure-track assistant professor, PI in School of Life Sciences and Technology. Dr. Chen was selected to the “Pujiang Talents Program” organized by Shanghai Science and Technology Commission in 2016.

Research Interest

Species survival depends on the faithful replication of genetic information, which is monitored and maintained by a number of sophisticated DNA repair pathways. However, cells can initiate error-prone DNA repair in various physiological and pathological conditions. Thus, the fidelity of DNA repair affects aging, evolution and certain diseases. Our group focuses on the DNA repair-induced mutagenesis, which underlines the accuracy of gene editing, the progression of certain cancers (e.g., cervical, breast, lung, and prostate cancers) and aging. We are particularly interested in: 1) Mechanism of DNA repair-induced mutagenesis in CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing; 2) Improvement and development of gene editing tools; 3) New proteins and pathways involved in DNA repair-induced mutagenesis; 4) Role of DNA repair-induced mutagenesis in carcinogenesis. The goal of our group is to reveal the mechanism regulating the fidelity of DNA repair, which is disturbed in diseases and aging but may contribute to the genetic changes during evolution.