Gong Chen graduated from Fudan University and obtained his PhD degree in Shanghai Institute of Physiology. Dr. Chen did postdoctoral work at Yale University and Stanford University before joining the faculty of Penn State University, where he was a Professor and Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences till 2019. Since January 2020, Dr. Chen joined Jinan University in Guangzhou, China to lead a Brain Repair Center focusing on translational research by developing neuroregenerative gene therapy to treat neurodegenerative disorders. 

Dr. Chen pioneered an innovative in vivo reprogramming technology, converting reactive glial cells directly into functional neurons in situ. Dr. Chen and his team published a series of articles on NeuroD1-based gene therapy, laying solid foundation for a potential disruptive therapy using internal glial cells to regenerate functional new neurons for neural repair. Dr. Chen also developed a chemical reprogramming technology, using a cocktail of small molecules to convert human glial cells into functional neurons, paving the way for a potential drug therapy for neural regeneration and repair. Dr. Chen published many research articles in world leading journals including Cell Stem Cell, Nature Communications, Neuron, PNAS, and received the Zenith Fellows Award from Alzheimer’s Association. Dr. Chen organized and Chaired the first symposium on in vivo reprogramming at the 2014 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington DC. Dr. Chen has over 160 patent applications with 45 patents issued world-wide. Dr. Chen founded NeuExcell Therapeutics and formed research collaboration with Spark Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Roche, to co-develop new gene therapy for HD. NeuExcell has been named one of the 5 gene therapies with high potential in Asia.