Chinfei Chen

Chinfei Chen is an American neuroscientist and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences studying synaptic plasticity. She is a professor of neurology and neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and the Associate Director of the Harvard Program in Neuroscience. She also works as a research associate in neurology at the Boston Children's Hospital.

Early life

Chinfei Chen, born in the United States 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 Training

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 Britton Chance's laboratory, where she studied brain activity by monitoring flavoprotein fluorescence. Chen later obtained her M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. While in graduate school, she first worked with Edward Kravitz to research neurotransmitter signaling pathways in lobsters. She then worked with Peter Hess on calcium channel biophysics for her Ph.D. Chen then completed her residency in adult neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital., followed by postdoctoral training with Wade Regehr at Harvard Medical School. Chen decided to study the thalamus during her postdoctoral training, after seeing a patient with damage to the mediodorsal thalamus during her residency.

Research

Chen's research focuses on mechanisms of synaptic and circuit plasticity in the mammalian central nervous system, for which she was recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Chen's research uncovered the functional organization of retinal inputs into the visual thalamus and insight into synaptic function of visual pathways in mouse model of autism and Rett Syndrome

Selected Publications

Source:

• Hooks BM, Chen C. Distinct roles for spontaneous and visual activity in remodeling of the retinogeniculate synapse.  Neuron 2006; 52:281-291. PMID 17046691 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2006.07.007
• Hooks BM, Chen C.  Vision triggers an experience-dependent sensitive period at the retinogeniculate synapse.  J Neurosci 2008 28:4807-4817. PMID 18448657 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4667-07.2008
• Noutel J, Hong YK, Leu BH, Kang E and Chen C.  Experience-Dependent Retinogeniculate Synapse Remodeling is Abnormal in MeCP2 deficient mice. Neuron 2011; 70:35-42. PMCID: PMC3082316 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.001
• Hong YK, Park K, Litvina E, Morales J, Sanes JR and Chen C. Bouton Clustering Underlies Retinogeniculate Refinement. Neuron 2014; 84: 332-339.  PMID 25284005 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.08.059
• Thompson AD, Picard N, Min L, Fagiolini M and Chen C. Cortical Feedback Regulates Feedforward Retinogeniculate Refinement.  Neuron, 2016; 91:1021-1033. PMID 27545712 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.07.040
• Litvina EY and Chen C.  Functional Convergence at the Retinogeniculate Synapse. Neuron 2017; 96:330-338. PMID 29024658 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.09.037
• Liang L, Fratzl A, Goldey G, Ramesh RN, Sugden AU, Morgan JL, Chen C* and Andermann ML*. A fine-scale functional logic to convergence from retina to thalamus. Cell 2018; 173:1343-1355 PMID 29856953 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.04.041
• Reggiani JDS, Jiang Q, Barbini M, Lutas A, Liang L, Fernando J, Deng F, Wan J, Li Y, Chen C*, Andermann ML*.  Brainstem Serotonin Neurons Selectively Gate Retinal Information Flow to Thalamus. 2022. Neuron Dec 21:S0896-6273(22)01079-0. PMID 36584680 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.12.006