MING NAN CHEN

Dr. Mingnan Chen’s research focuses on the development and mechanistic study of therapeutics that  treat immune-mediated diseases including autoimmune diseases and neurological degeneration diseases.

Over the past several years, his research program has advanced three major areas:

1. Development of protein- and cell-based therapeutics for autoimmune diseases and neuro inflammatory diseases, including type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
2. Investigation of therapeutic outcomes arising from interactions between the immune environment and therapeutics, using multi-omics and bioinformatics approaches.
3. Design of biocompatible polypeptides and proteins as formulation and delivery materials, leveraging artificial intelligence and data-driven strategies.

As an example, Dr. Chen’s laboratory developed a PD-1–targeted immune cell therapy for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. This therapy not only reverses disease progression but also avoids the immune deficiency often associated with conventional autoimmune treatments (Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2019, 3:292–305). These features suggest it may represent a safer and more effective therapeutic option for patients with autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Chen’s research is currently supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and private research foundations, including the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.