Z. Jeffrey Chen International Plant Molecular Biology Conference 2024

Z. Jeffrey Chen

Z. Jeffrey Chen received his PhD in Genetics at Texas A&M University and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Minnesota and NIH postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis. In 1999, he joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University, where he was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure in 2005. He was recruited as the holder of D. J. Sibley Centennial Professorship of Plant Molecular Genetics at The University of Texas at Austin and was promoted to full Professor in 2008. Dr. Chen has made outstanding contributions to advancing the biology of genomes through his original studies on complex plant genomes using versatile genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, and metabolomic approaches. He established genomic and epigenetic frameworks to elucidate the evolution and function of polyploid and hybrid genomes. His landmark discoveries include genome-wide nonadditive gene expression, altered circadian rhythms in heterosis, and epigenetic basis of inbreeding depression to sequencing of polyploid genomes and epigenomes for crop improvement. He is elected fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB). He received Fulbright UK-US Scholar Award (2011) and Cotton Biotechnology Award (2016).