YiPing Chen, the John L. and Mary Wright Ebaugh Chair in Science and Engineering, was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in the Section of Biological Sciences. The honor recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of science and its applications.

For Chen, who has spent almost three decades as an independent researcher, the recognition carries personal significance.

"This is a nice honor for me and recognition of my contribution to the sciences," he said.

Chen joined Tulane in 1997 and has built a research program that spans several interconnected areas, including craniofacial development, cardiac biology and, more recently, fat cell biology.

"For three decades, Professor Chen has, with great energy, creativity and expertise, been making discoveries that have dramatic real-world impacts on the health and wellbeing of individuals throughout the world," said Tulane Senior Vice President and Provost Robin Forman. "He is most deserving of this recognition, which rightfully places him among the nation's leading scientists engaged in the fundamental mission of advancing our understanding of the living world around us."

Chen's original training was in embryology, focusing on the molecular and cellular basis of early embryonic development in vertebrates. During his postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School, he shifted his attention toward organ formation, particularly tooth development. That work set the course for much of what followed.

"One of the genes I studied plays an important function in tooth development," Chen said.

When that gene, known as MSX1, is deleted in mice, the embryo develops without teeth, Chen explained. The same holds true in humans: Mutations in the same gene lead to tooth agenesis, or failure to develop.

That discovery pulled Chen into the broader field of craniofacial development, which includes teeth, the palate, the face and the temporomandibular joint, the hinge that allows the jaw to open.

As Chen and researchers in his lab further explored craniofacial development, they made another discovery involving a rare form of cleft palate. Typically, palate formation runs from front to back, like a zipper, and a complete cleft is the expected outcome when the anterior portion of the palate fails to close.

But Chen's lab identified a gene whose mutation causes something different: anterior clefting, where only the front portion of the palate is affected, while the back remains closed.

"People usually consider this a kind of post-fusion rupture," Chen said, explaining that scientists previously thought the condition resulted from physical forces acting on developing facial tissue, rather than from genetics. "It was never considered to be a genetic mutation, but we showed, for the first time, that gene mutation can lead to anterior cleft."

The work of Chen's lab on cardiac development has been equally impactful. Chen's lab was the first to clone a protein that controls the position of the heart in a condition in which the heart sits on the right side of the chest rather than the left. Subsequent work on another gene related to regulating heart rates led his lab into cardiac pacemaker research.

In recent years, Chen's lab made a discovery that has opened up an entirely new line of inquiry in the field of whole-body metabolism.

The practical motivation underlying all of this work, Chen said, is the potential to understand - and eventually address - birth defects.

"If we can completely understand the genes and the process involved in normal organ formation, it will provide the basis for our understanding of birth defects," he explained. "If we have a baby born with a defect in the heart, teeth or craniofacial regions, and if we understand the molecular basis, we could possibly provide a therapeutic correction before birth."

Looking ahead, Chen said his lab will continue exploring its new discoveries in metabolism, while maintaining its long-running work on craniofacial development.

Tooth regeneration remains a personal scientific ambition for him.

"Everybody has teeth and everybody loses teeth at a certain time in their life," he said. "Tooth regeneration is my dream to address."

Chen said that throughout his years of research, Tulane has been central to his career. "I really appreciate Tulane's support," he said, noting in particular how his colleagues and administrators have assisted him during his time at the university.