After graduating from Nankai University with a B.S. in Biochemistry, Dr. Hong Chen earned a M.S. with Dr. Jerry Workman at Pennsylvania State University, and completed her Ph.D. and postdoctoral training at the Yale University School of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Pietro De Camilli, where she discovered a family of endocytic adaptor proteins called epsins. Dr. Chen subsequently worked in the Cardiovascular Biology Research Program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center before moving to Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2015. 

Dr. Chen received the 2013 Irvine H. Page Young Investigator Research Award from the American Heart Association (AHA), the 2015 AHA Established Investigator Award, the 2018 AHA Alan T. Hirsch M.D. Mid Career Award in Vascular Medicine, the 2024 Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB) Special Recognition Award in Atherosclerosis, and the 2026 Jeffrey M. Hoeg ATVB Award for Basic Science and Clinical Research. She is currently serving on the ATVB Woman’s Leadership Committee and is a grant reviewer for the AHA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Chen is always seeking highly-motivated graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and scientists with an interest in studying the molecular and cellular biology of disease. Candidates should have a solid background in one or more of the following areas: mouse genetics, cardiovascular biology, immunology, metabolic regulation, signal transduction, bioinformatics, surgery, and physiology. Inquiries about potential positions should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and three references.