Janice Chen

Janice Chen
Born
1990 or 1991 (age 33–34)
Alma mater
OccupationChief technology officer
EmployerMammoth Biosciences
RelativesNathan Chen (brother)

Janice Chen is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Mammoth Biosciences, a Brisbane, California-based company founded in 2018 that is developing diagnostic tests using CRISPR.[1][2][3] She received her B.S. degree from Johns Hopkins University and as a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, she worked in the lab of CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, receiving her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology.[3]

Awards and honors

Along with two of her cofounders at Mammoth Biosciences, Chen was named to the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare list[4] and 2020 Business Insider's 30 Under 40 in Healthcare.[5] She was also selected to the 2020 Endpoints Top 20 Women in Biopharma,[6] and 35 Innovators Under 35 in MIT Technology Review in 2021.[7]

Personal life

Chen grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is one of five siblings.[8] Her youngest brother is Olympic figure skater Nathan Chen.[9] Chen's parents immigrated to the United States from China in 1988. Chen competed in chess tournaments, where she was often the youngest and the only female. Chen discovered her love of science at her father's biotech business in Utah.

In 2017, Chen and fellow Berkeley classmate and researcher Lucas Harrington, along with their doctoral advisor, Nobel laureate and Berkeley professor Jennifer Doudna, founded Mammoth Biosciences at a biotech incubator in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. In September 2021, Mammoth – now in a state-of-the-art facility in Brisbane, California – completed its seventh round of funding, raising US$195 million at a valuation of over US$1 billion.[8]

References

  1. ^ "30 Under 30 Spotlight: Unsung Heroes in Healthcare Janice Chen | Forbes Healthcare Summit 2019". Forbes. December 16, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Dutton, Gail (April 24, 2020). "Mammoth's CRISPR Assay for Asymptomatic COVID-19 Carriers Gains Peer-Reviewed Validation". BioSpace. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Janice Chen". TEDx CERN. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  4. ^ "Mammoth Biosciences Co-Founders Trevor Martin, Janice Chen and Lucas Harrington Named to 2018 Forbes' 30 Under 30". WebWire. November 15, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  5. ^ Ramsey Pflanzer, Lydia; Leonard, Kimberly; Hernbroth, Megan; Dunn, Andrew; Dodge, Blake (12 October 2020). "Meet the 30 young leaders who are forging a new future for the $3.6 trillion healthcare industry". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  6. ^ Gelman, Max (10 December 2020). "Special report: Twenty extraordinary women blazing trails in biopharma R&D — Covid-19 and beyond". Endpoints News. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  7. ^ Regalado, Antonio (30 June 2021). "35 Innovators Under 35". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  8. ^ a b Fannin, Rebecca. "The 30-year-old female founder at the forefront of a billion-dollar bet on CRISPR gene editing". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  9. ^ Pham, Jason (February 4, 2022). "Nathan Chen Is the 'Baby' of 5 Kids—Meet the Olympian's Parents & Siblings". Yahoo Sports!.