Carol Chen
PhD (University of British Columbia)
BSc (University of British Columbia)
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Full Member
Dr. Carol Chen was born in Taipei, Taiwan and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She obtained her PhD in the lab of Dr. Matthew Lorincz at the University of British Columbia, where she studied chromatin mechanism of transcription, specifically looking at histone phosphorylation. She then completed a postdoc fellowship in the lab of Dr. Nada Jabado at McGill University, where she studied histone mutations found in cancer and germline developmental disorders. In 2023, she joined Terry Fox Laboratory at BC Cancer to start her own independent research group. Her lab will study epigenetic mechanisms of brain tumors and neurodevelopmental disorders using a combination of primary clinical samples, experimental models, and computational-based approaches.
Contact Info
675 W 10th Avenue
Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1L3
Research Information
My lab studies the epigenetic mechanisms of brain cancer and neurodevelopmental syndromes, with the goal of understanding how diseases are initiated and maintained. We utilize an integrative approach that leverages multiple experimental methods, including patient-derived samples, cerebral organoids, and transgenic animals, along with state-of-the-art sequencing technologies to profile the genome, epigenome, and transcriptome. Current research projects include:
- Understanding how histone modifier mutations alter cell fate in the brain
- Identifying epigenetic drivers of childhood brain tumors
- Examining epigenetic rewiring as a therapeutic resistance mechanism.
Keywords
- epigenetics
- childhood brain cancer
- neurodevelopment
- neuroinflammation
- neurodegeneration