Chinfei Chen

Introduction

Chinfei Chen is an American neuroscientist and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences studying synaptic plasticity. She currently serves as a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and the associate director of the Harvard Program in Neuroscience.

Early Life

Chinfei Chen, born to Taiwanese immigrants, spent her early years in Wilmington, Delaware. Her father had previously moved to the United States to pursue a graduate degree in architecture. As Chen grew older, she and her family relocated to New York City, where she received her education through the city's public school system.

Education and Career

While in New York, Chen went to Stuyvesant High School. She attended the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a Bachelor of Applied Science in engineering. During her undergraduate years, she joined a lab under biochemist Britton Chance which sparked her fascination with neuroscience. Chen later obtained her M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. While in medical school, she worked under Edward Kravitz to research neurotransmitter signaling pathways in lobsters. She also worked under Peter Hess in calcium channel biophysics for her Ph.D. Chen then completed her residency in adult neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. She then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship with Wade Regehr at Harvard Medical School. She is currently a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School teaching plasticity and development. Additionally, she is an advisor and the associate director of the Harvard Program in Neuroscience. Furthermore, Chen also works as a Research Associate in Neurology at the Boston Children's Hospital.

Research

Chen's first experience in a research lab was spent observing fluorescent activity in rat brains as a measurement for metabolic activity. She did her residency at Mass General and decided to study the thalamus through a postdoctoral fellowship focusing on synapses with Regehr. In her lab focusing on synaptic plasticity, The Chen Lab focuses on mechanisms of synaptic and circuit plasticity in the mammalian central nervous system. Chen's research includes the study of boutons that send information to the thalamus. Chen's research projects have also focused on Autism, specifically in relation to the corticothalamic circuit interactions in Autism.

Personal Life

In her free time outside of the lab, Chen gardens and creates floral arrangements as a creative outlet. Having lived in Boston for a considerable amount of time and working in a lab close to the games, she is a fan of the Boston Red Sox. After being gifted hockey gear from her husband, Chen learned how to play ice hockey and enjoys the sport for exercise.

Selected Publications

• Taub, D. G., Jiang, Q., Pietrafesa, F., Su, J., Carroll, A., Greene, C., Blanchard, M. R., Jain, A., El-Rifai, M., Callen, A., Yager, K., Chung, C., He, Z., Chen, C., & Woolf, C. J. (2024, February 12). The secondary somatosensory cortex gates mechanical and heat sensitivity. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45729-7
• Tzeng, C. P., Whitwam, T., Boxer, L. D., Li, E., Silberfeld, A., Trowbridge, S., Mei, K., Lin, C., Shamah, R., Griffith, E. C., Renthal, W., Chen, C., & Greenberg, M. E. (2023, October 23). Activity-induced MeCP2 phosphorylation regulates retinogeniculate synapse refinement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2310344120
• Liang, L., & Chen, C. (2020, September 15). Organization, Function, and Development of the Mouse Retinogeniculate Synapse. Annual Review of Vision Science. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-vision-121219-081753
• Chen, D., Liu, Y., Shu, G., Chen, C., Sullivan, D. A., Kam, W. R., Hann, S., Fowler, M. E., & Warman, M. L. (2020, May 21). Ocular Manifestations of Chordin-like 1 Knockout Mice. Cornea. https://doi.org/10.1097/ico.0000000000002371
• Liu, Y., Latrémolière, A., Li, X., Zhang, Z., Chen, M., Wang, X., Fang, C., Zhu, J., Alexandre, C., Gao, Z., Chen, B., Ding, X., Zhou, J., Zhang, Y., Chen, C., Wang, K. H., Woolf, C. J., & He, Z. (2018, September 1). Touch and tactile neuropathic pain sensitivity are set by corticospinal projections. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0515-2
• Hong, Y. K., Burr, E., Sanes, J. R., & Chen, C. (2018, August 7). Heterogeneity of retinogeniculate axon arbors. European Journal of Neuroscience/EJN. European Journal of Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.13986
• Litvina, E. Y., & Chen, C. (2017, January 1). An evolving view of retinogeniculate transmission. Visual Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0952523817000104
• Thompson, A., & Chen, C. (2017, January 1). The importance of constructive feedback: Implications of top-down regulation in the development of neural circuits. Neurogenesis. https://doi.org/10.1080/23262133.2017.1287553
• Hauser, J. L., Liu, X., Litvina, E. Y., & Chen, C. (2014, October 1). Prolonged synaptic currents increase relay neuron firing at the developing retinogeniculate synapse. Journal of Neurophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00451.2014
• Lin, D. J., Kang, E., & Chen, C. (2014, August 15). Changes in input strength and number are driven by distinct mechanisms at the retinogeniculate synapse. Journal of Neurophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00175.2014
• Chung, W., Clarke, L., Wang, G., Stafford, B. K., Sher, A., Chakraborty, C., Joung, J., Foo, L. C., Thompson, A., Chen, C., Smith, S. J., & Barres, B. A. (2013, November 24). Astrocytes mediate synapse elimination through MEGF10 and MERTK pathways. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12776
• Kang, E., Durand, S., LeBlanc, J. J., Hensch, T. K., Chen, C., & Fagiolini, M. (2013, November 6). Visual Acuity Development and Plasticity in the Absence of Sensory Experience. The Journal of Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1500-13.2013
• Hauser, J. L., Edson, E. B., Hooks, B. M., & Chen, C. (2013, January 1). Metabotropic glutamate receptors and glutamate transporters shape transmission at the developing retinogeniculate synapse. Journal of Neurophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00897.2012
• Roy, K., Murtie, J., El‐Khodor, B. F., Edgar, N., Sardi, S. P., Hooks, B. M., Benoît-Marand, M., Chen, C., Moore, H., O’Donnell, P., Brunner, D., & Corfas, G. (2007, May 8). Loss of erbB signaling in oligodendrocytes alters myelin and dopaminergic function, a potential mechanism for neuropsychiatric disorders. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0702157104
• Chen, D., Liu, Y., Shu, G., Chen, C., Sullivan, D. A., Kam, W. R., Hann, S., Fowler, M. E., & Warman, M. L. (2020, May 21). Ocular Manifestations of Chordin-like 1 Knockout Mice. Cornea. https://doi.org/10.1097/ico.0000000000002371