Tracy Chen

We discover and develop innovative medicines in multiple therapeutic areas for patients with serious genetic diseases.

Lead three drug discovery labs with 16 scientists and provide scientific leadership of the oncology discovery program teams at the site. Establish relationships with internal and external scientific leaders, strategically shape the scientific direction of the cell biology group by conceptualizing and communicating key scientific insights, providing professional expertise, formulating and implementing new strategies. Provide day to day guidance and mentorship to team members.

Project team leader for a large cross-functional oncology drug discovery program, which aims to develop novel anti-cancer drugs by targeting a disease-relevant pathway. Successfully led the rapid progression of this project from assay development, high throughput screening, target ID and validation, mechanism of action, lead optimization, in vivo PK/PD, efficacy, and toxicity studies. Defined cancer patient stratification to achieve the most effective therapeutic window. Managed a lab.

Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Unit (2008 - 2011) - Group leader of the screening group, which was responsible of cell-based screening of siRNA and antisense oligonucleotides to enable the rapid advancement of RNAi therapeutic programs at the site. Led in vitro/in vivo studies. Supervised direct reports. - Target generation group: Identified and validated new liver cancer targets through siRNA library screening and chemosensitizer screening. Performed MoA study. Kinase Center of Emphasis (2005 - 2008) - Project team leader and key biologist of an extensive cross functional drug discovery program seeking small molecule inhibitors targeting the JIP-JNK protein protein interaction to treat diabetes. Built a comprehensive platform to explore non-classical kinase inhibitors, developed and published novel chemical series. Research Technology Center (2001 - 2005) - The lead biologist of a large drug discovery program, Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase, for the treatment of pain and inflammation. A small molecule series identified through the screening was advanced to phase II clinical trial. Drug Pfinder Program - Active member of the Drug Pfinder Program, which was a global initiative at Pfizer to identify new drug targets through collaborations with external resources such as academic labs and biotech companies. Researched and proposed new drug targets that led to a successful drug discovery program at the site.

Performed independent research on cell division and polarity regulation in yeast using genetic, biochemical, molecular and cell biological methods. In particular, identified and validated a novel gene named RAX2, which led to a first author publication at Science magazine.

Conducted research on the cell cycle regulation of microtubules in the tumor-derived mammalian cell lines. Carried out in vitro and in vivo studies to identify the proteins and genes involved in cell division using cell lines, mouse models and a wide variety of molecular and biochemical techniques.