Zhijian Chen, Ph.D. Titles and Appointments Professor Endowed Title George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science School Medical School Department Molecular Biology | Center for Genetics of Host Defense Graduate Programs Genetics, Development and Disease, Immunology Education Undergraduate Fujian Normal University (1985), Biology Graduate School SUNY at Buffalo (1991), Biochemistry Research Interest Innate Immunity MAVS: mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein NF-kappaB Signaling RIG-I Signaling Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway Publications STING-induced noncanonical autophagy regulates endolysosomal homeostasis Huang T, Sun C, Du F, Chen ZJ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2025 Feb 122 From NF-κB to cGAS: An interview with Prof. Zhijian James Chen on unraveling innate immunity Zeng W, Ng LG, Chen ZJ, Yan Q hLife 2025 The STING agonist IMSA101 enhances chimeric antigen receptor T cell function by inducing IL-18 secretion Uslu U, Sun L, Castelli S, Finck AV, Assenmacher CA, Young RM, Chen ZJ, June CH Nature communications 2024 Dec 15 Discovery of cGAS as a DNA-Sensing Enzyme That Triggers Inflammation: 2024 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award Chen ZJ JAMA 2024 Nov 332 cGAS activation in classical dendritic cells causes autoimmunity in TREX1-deficient mice Li T, Yum S, Wu J, Li M, Deng Y, Sun L, Zuo X, Chen ZJ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2024 Sep 121 cGAS-activated endothelial cell–T cell cross-talk initiates tertiary lymphoid structure formation Zhao R, Zhang J, Ma J, Qu Y, Yang Z, Yin Z, Li F, Dong Z, Sun Q, Zhu S, Chen ZJ, Gao D Science Immunology 2024 Aug 9 cGAS goes viral: A conserved immune defense system from bacteria to humans Jenson JM, Chen ZJ Molecular cell 2024 Jan 84 120-130 Orthogonal Hydroxyl Functionalization of cGAMP Confers Metabolic Stability and Enables Antibody Conjugation Chen C, Lu Y, You L, Li L, Kilgore JA, Liu S, Wang X, Dai Y, Wei Q, Shi H, Han L, Sun L, Chen ZJ, Zhang X, Williams NS ACS Central Science 2023 Dec 9 2298-2305 Vaccinia E5 is a major inhibitor of the DNA sensor cGAS Yang N, Wang Y, Dai P, Li T, Zierhut C, Tan A, Zhang T, Xiang JZ, Ordureau A, Funabiki H, Chen Z, Deng L Nature communications 2023 Dec 14 Ubiquitin-like conjugation by bacterial cGAS enhances anti-phage defence Jenson JM, Li T, Du F, Ea CK, Chen ZJ Nature 2023 Apr 616 326-331 Results 1-10 of 210 1 2 3 4 5 Next Last Honors & Awards Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research AwardThe Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for Dr. Chen's discovery of the cGAS enzyme. (2024) Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2023) Member, National Academy of Medicine, USA (2022) William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology (2020) Breakthrough Prize in Life SciencesFor his discovery of the cGAS enzyme that launches the body's immune defense against infections and cancers. That enzyme patrols the cell's interior and triggers the immune system in response to DNA. (2019) Lurie Prize in Biomedical SciencesFor his discovery of the cGAS enzyme, a sensor of innate immunity. The enzyme patrols the cells interior and sounds the alarm to trigger the immune system in response to DNA. (2018) NAS Award in Molecular BiologyFor his creative use of elegant biochemistry both in elucidating an unsuspected role for polyubiquitin in a kinase-signaling cascade important for cancer and immunity and in discovering a novel link between innate immunity and a mitochondrial membrane protein that forms prion-like polymers to trigger antiviral responses. (2012) Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Science by The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (2007) Welch Foundation Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research (2005) Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases (2002) Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar (2002) Searle Scholar (1998)
