Zhijian (James) Chen, PhD '91

Zhijian (James) Chen, MD '91 is an internationally recognized scientist and the 2012 recipient of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology.

In conferring this award upon him, the academy cited Chen for his creative use of elegant biochemistry in elucidating processes important to understanding cancer and immunity.

A Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 2005, Chen is the George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he also serves as professor of molecular biology.

At UB, Chen studied in the laboratory of the late Cecile Pickart, PhD, professor of biochemistry, where he researched mechanisms of protein degradation. In addition to Pickart’s excellent tutelage, Chen credits Ed Niles, PhD, emeritus professor of biochemistry, with teaching him molecular biology.

A native of China, Chen became a U.S. citizen in 2004. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from Fujian Normal University in 1985. After earning his PhD, he served a postdoctoral fellowship at the Salk Institute. He then worked for Baxter Healthcare Corporation and later ProScript Inc. as a senior scientist prior to joining the faculty at UT Southwestern.

Chen has received numerous other honors for his research, including the Searle Scholar Award, the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Investigator Award, the Welch Foundation Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research, and the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Science from The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas.