He is also the director of the Stanford High-Throughput Bioscience Center. Chen received a Ph.D. in chemistry and chemical biology from Harvard University in 1999. His research integrates organic chemistry and developmental biology to probe the cellular and molecular mechanisms of embryogenesis. For example, Chen’s laboratory recently invented a technology that uses light to turn off specific genes in whole organisms. He is using his Pioneer Award to develop synthetic reagents for manipulating and visualizing embryonic genetic programs, with the goal of understanding how tissue formation and regeneration are regulated at the molecular level. Chen’s honors include a Scholar Award from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation and a Basil O’Connor Award from the March of Dimes Foundation. Ricardo Dolmetsch, Ph.D.