Professor
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona
Qiang “Shawn” Chen is a molecular biologist who specializes in developing novel human therapeutics and vaccines in plants to combat infectious diseases, cancer, and biological warfare agents. His research aims to ameliorate diseases and improve human health, as well as to contribute new knowledge to the basic understanding of how gene expression and protein modification are regulated in plants.
Professor Chen and his team use rational design strategies to develop biologics that possess superior efficacy and safety. Flavivirus therapeutics and vaccine development and the modulation of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of viral infections are part of their research focus. His team has developed monoclonal antibody (MAb) variants in plants that have shown promise in improving brain targeting, eliminating ADE, and enhancing efficacy against West Nile, Dengue and Chikungunya virus compared to their parent MAbs. The disease targets also include SARS-CoV-2, Zika virus, Ebola virus and colorectal cancer.