Chen,Shu G.
Associate Professor of Pathology and Neurology
Case Western Reserve University
USA
Biography
Dr. Shu Chen received his Ph.D. in Biochemical Pharmacology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1993. He came to CWRU as a Research Associate and moved on to be an Instructor and Assistant Professor in Case's Institute of Pathology. Presently, Dr. Chen is an Associate Professor of Pathology (2002-) and an Associate Director of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center (2003-).
Research Interest
Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and prion disease are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by neuronal cell death and accumulation of insoluble protein aggregates. Prion disease is unique in that it consists of a group of heterogeneous brain disorders affecting both humans (such as Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease, CJD) and animals (such as mad cow disease). In humans, prion disease can be sporadic, inherited, or acquired by infection. The hallmark of prion disease is the presence of an abnormal isoform of prion protein (PrP) in the diseased brain. It is thought that the abnormal PrP is derived from the normal PrP that is also expressed in brain and throughout the body.