Chair in Cell and Molecular Biology and Professor, The John L. and Mary Wright Ebaugh Chair in Science and Engineering, Recipient, Provost’s Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship, 2005, Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1993. Molecular mechanisms and genetic control of vertebrate organogenesis. We are particularly interested in the roles of growth factors and transcription factors in craniofacial and cardiac development and congenital defects. We use a combination of in vivo genetic modifications and in vitro experimental approaches to address fundamental questions in the development of tooth, palate and heart. Dr. Chen teaches CELL 4160/6160, Developmental Biology, CELL 4780/6780, Developmental Genetics