Background
She was born in China and educated in Northeast Normal University China - Bachelor of Science in 1984 and Master of Science in 1987 and received her Doctor of Philosophy in 2003 from The University of Sydney Australia.
She was born in China and educated in Northeast Normal University China - Bachelor of Science in 1984 and Master of Science in 1987 and received her Doctor of Philosophy in 2003 from The University of Sydney Australia.
Doctor of Philosophy, School Biological Sciences, 2003.
She is a Full Professor and Australian Council Future Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Sydney. Her research is primarily concerned with elucidating the molecular and biochemical mechanism of the energy-storing reactions in photosynthetic organisms, especially the function of novel photopigments in oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria. Her research found that chlorophyll f has an absorption maximum at 706 nm in vitro, which suggests that oxygenic photosynthesis can be extended even further into the infrared region, which may open up associated bioenergy applications.
Red-shifted chlorophylls could be used extend light capture in crop plants.
Chen is the University of Sydney node leader of Australian Council Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis. The function of Chlorophyll f in photosynthetic reactions is uncertain and the ecological distribution of chlorophyll f remains unknown.