Xuemei Chen

Distinguished Professor, HHMI Investigator, Department of Botany and Plant Science, Institute of Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, USA
January 13 - 8:00 AM
Town & Country Ballroom
Talk Title: “Plant microRNAs: biogenesis, degradation, and modes of action”

Xuemei Chen is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences and Institute of Integrative Genome Biology at University of California, Riverside. She is a plant molecular biologist recognized for her work on small RNAs and plant development. She is known particularly for her pioneering studies on plant microRNAs – their identification, biogenesis and degradation, and developmental functions.

Chen was born, and grew up, in Harbin, a northeastern city in China. She graduated with her B.S. degree from Peking University in 1988, and was selected to participate in the CUSBEA (China-US Biology Examinations and Admissions) program that provided opportunities for Chinese students to pursue Ph.D. studies in US institutions. She received a doctorate from Cornell University in 1995. After postdoctoral training from 1995 to 1998 at California Institute of Technology, she started her Assistant Professor position in 1999 at the Waksman Institute at Rutgers University. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005 and won the Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence at Rutgers University. She moved to University of California, Riverside in 2005 as an Associate Professor and was promoted to Full Professor in 2009, Endowed Chair Professor in 2010, and Distinguished Professor in 2013. In 2011, she was selected to be an Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation investigator. In 2013, she was elected into the US National Academy of Sciences.