Dr. Liang Chen

Biography

Liang Chen is a Professor of Quantitative Computational Biology at USC Dornsife. His long-term research goal is to develop statistical and computational methods to discover the underlying principles of gene expression regulation in eukaryotes. He explores the variations and defects in gene regulation that cause phenotypic variation and diseases. His work addresses fundamental questions about how cells control gene expression, which is considered crucial in numerous biological processes. Chen's research particularly focuses on the intricate regulatory mechanisms of gene expression at multiple levels including transcriptional, epigenetic, and post-transcriptional. He is especially interested in alternative pre-mRNA splicing, which is a critical mechanism that contributes to proteomic diversity in higher eukaryotes. With an estimated 90% of human genes being alternatively spliced, his research aims to understand the regulatory processes involved, as abnormal mRNA splicing contributes to various human diseases. Chen's work heavily relies on the analysis of large-scale biological data such as microarray data and high-throughput sequencing data, integrating genetic linkage and association studies to identify variants related to disease.

Research Interests