Joyce Huanhuan Chen

Huanhuan Chen serves as a professor at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. She has held this position for about seven years, during which she leads a laboratory, mentors trainees including more than five postdoctoral researchers and twenty graduate students, and fulfills teaching responsibilities. Chen obtained her bachelor's degree from Zhejiang University in China and completed her PhD at Cornell University, where she transitioned her focus from pharmaceutical sciences to biomedical engineering. She then pursued postdoctoral training in Harold Wyman's lab. Her research centers on stem cell studies and regenerative medicine, particularly involving the lung organ, as well as investigations into the immune system, cancer, and infectious diseases. In addition to her research and mentoring duties, Chen secures funding through grant writing and publishes impactful work in top journals. She advises young professionals to slow down when evaluating career paths and to prioritize personality when selecting collaborators.