Xiaoyu Chen Lab Team

Dr. Xiaoyu Chen earned her BS in Medicine and MS in Neurology from Hebei Medical University, China, and completed a PhD in Molecular Biology at Leiden University, the Netherlands. Following her doctoral work on genome engineering and CRISPR-based gene-editing strategies, Dr. Chen pursued postdoctoral training in neuroscience at Stanford University, where she combined human brain organoids, stem cell engineering and advanced molecular tools to study disorders such as Timothy syndrome.

Dr. Chen is currently an Assistant Member in the Department of Genomic and Translational Neuroscience, where her research focuses on understanding the biological mechanisms of and developing therapies for pediatric neurological disorders. She is affiliated with the Center for Pediatric Neurological Disease Research (CPNDR) within the Pediatric Translational Neuroscience Initiative (PTNI) at St. Jude.

Dr. Chen’s research integrates genome editing, imaging, and single-cell sequencing to uncover the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying early-onset brain disorders. She has developed targeted antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies capable of rescuing disease phenotypes both in vitro and in vivo, demonstrating the potential for precision medicine approaches in neurodevelopmental diseases. Her work bridges basic science and translational research, with the goal of identifying therapeutic strategies that address the root causes of devastating brain disorders in children.