Sing-Young Chen

Dr. Sing-Young Chen is a postdoctoral researcher working in the laboratories of Dr. James Johnson and Dr. Elizabeth Rideout in the Life Sciences Institute at the University of British Columbia. She completed her PhD at the University of New South Wales, Australia, under the supervision of Dr. Kyle Hoehn. Her PhD studies focused on novel molecules that modify the way cells use energy, and thus have potential as therapeutics for obesity and diabetes. Sing-Young’s current postdoctoral work, supported by Health Research BC, aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms governing sex differences in beta-cell function in response to stress. She will use a novel technology to label new proteins synthesised by beta-cells, to characterise the proteins that male and female beta-cells produce as they respond and adapt to stresses associated with diabetes. Understanding these sex differences will uncover pathways that are beneficial or detrimental to beta-cell function under stress, and help us understand why diabetes incidence and related risks are different between males and females.