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D. J. Sibley Centennial Professor in Plant Molecular Genetics
Zengjian Jeffrey Chen received his B.S. in Agronomy at Zhejiang Agricultural University (now Zhejiang University), M.S. in Plant Genetics and Breeding at Nanjing Agricultural University, and Ph.D. in Genetics at Texas A&M University (dissertation advisor: Gary E. Hart). Following a postdoctoral position with Dr. Ronald L. Phillips and Dr. Howard W. Rines at University of Minnesota and an NIH postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Craig S. Pikaard at Washington University in St. Louis, he joined the faculty at Texas A&M in 1999, where he was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure. In 2005, he joined the faculty of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology (now Department of Molecular Biosciences), Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, and Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology at The University of Texas at Austin, and was promoted to Full Professor in 2008 and holder of the D. J. Sibley Centennial Professor in Plant Molecular Genetics and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology. From 2011 to February 2021, he served as a consultant and Adjunct Professor at Nanjing Agricultural University.
Jeff Chen has developed an innovative research program to study molecular mechanisms for gene expression changes and evolutionary consequences in hybrids (formed between strains of the same or different species) and allopolyploids (formed between two or more related species) relative to the parents. His research employs Arabidopsis (a weedy plant in the mustard family) and cotton as experimental systems and uses genomic, proteomic, and systems biology approaches, as well as molecular biology and genetic methodologies. Dosage changes and novel interactions between parental genomes and alleles in hybrids and polyploids may induce epigenetic and epigenomic changes, leading to hybrid incompatibility, heterosis in plants, and diseases and cancers in animals. He and his colleagues have found that epigenetic changes in gene expression in plant hybrids and allopolyploids are associated with altered circadian rhythms and hybrid vigor, imprinting and spatial-temporal gene expression, seed size, enhanced resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and small interfering RNAs and microRNAs in cotton fiber cell development. Moreover, the results have significant implications, not only for the field of genetics and epigenetics, but also for the ultimate success of biotechnological efforts to safely and effectively manipulate gene expression associated with growth vigor in plants and crops that produce food, feed, and biofuels.
EDUCATION
| Zhejiang Agricultural University | Agronomy | B.S., 1984 |
| Nanjing Agricultural University | Crop Genetics & Breeding | M.S., 1987 |
| Texas A&M University | Genetics | Ph.D., 1993 |
| University of Minnesota | Plant Genetics | Postdoc, 1993-1995 |
| Washington University | Epigenetics | NIH Postdoc, 1995-1999 |
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
| 1986-1988 | Faculty of Plant Genetics, Northeast Agricultural University |
| 1990-1993 | Interdisciplinary Genetics Program, Texas A&M University. Dissertation Advisor: Gary E. Hart |
| 1993-1995 | Postdoctoral Associate, University of Minnesota. Mentors: Ronald L. Phillips and Howard W. Rines |
| 1995-1999 | NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University-St. Louis. Mentor: Craig S. Pikaard |
| 1999-2005 | Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University Genetics, Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences |
| 2005 | Associate Professor, Texas A&M University |
| 2005-2008 | Associate Professor and D. J. Sibley Centennial Professorship Fellow, University of Texas at Austin Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology Cellular and Molecular Biology, Plant Biology Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics |
| 2007 | Adjunct Professor, Integrative Biology |
| 2008-2021 | Professor, D. J. Sibley Centennial Professorship in Plant Molecular Genetics |
| 2011-2021 | Adjunct Professor (summer part-time), Nanjing Agricultural University |
| 2023-2024 | Professor of Molecular Biosciences, the Winkler Fellow |
| 2024- | D. J. Sibley Centennial Professor of Plant Molecular Genetics |
HONORS AND AWARDS
| 1989-1990 | Graduate Scholarship, K. C. Wong Foundation in Hong Kong |
| 1995-1997 | Monsanto Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Monsanto Company |
| 1997-1999 | National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Research Service Award |
| 2005 | D. J. Sibley Centennial Professorship Fellow in Plant Molecular Genetics |
| 2005 | Fellow of the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology |
| 2010-2011 | Faculty Development Program Award |
| 2010-2011 | Fulbright US-UK Scholar Award |
| Lent 2011 | Visiting Fellow Commoner, Trinity College, University of Cambridge |
| 2011 | Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| 2016 | Cotton Biotechnology Award |
| 2021 | Faculty Member, Faculty Opinions (formerly F1000Prime) |
| 2023 | Fellow of American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) |
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