Wen Chen [photo credit: Caltech]
Dr. Wen Chen, a scientific curator for Caltech’s WormBase genome project and a Caltech alumna, will deliver the talk as part of her annual Lunar New Year presentation series, which she has organized at the Pasadena campus for several years. The event, titled “Chinese Medicine and Meditation,” is sponsored by Caltech’s Women in Biology and Biological Engineering group and is free and open to the public, according to an event announcement.
In a 2024 interview, Chen said the idea for the annual talks came from watching Shen Yun Performing Arts. She said she applies her scientific training to presenting cultural concepts.
“As a scientist, I need to read complicated cutting-edge literature and present scientific concepts to researchers clearly and concisely,” Chen said in the 2024 interview. “Now I apply my unique advantage in explaining some traditional concepts in languages that make sense to the Caltech community.”
Chen has also said she hopes the talks help bridge cultural understanding. “I hope this in-person event can bring WiBBE members together in a setting outside of science,” she said in 2024. “People may not have a connection in science, but they can form a bond through their interests or specific topics.”
The talk falls one day before the official start of the 2026 Lunar New Year on February 17, which marks the Year of the Fire Horse — a combination that occurs once every 60 years in the Chinese zodiac.
Chen earned her Ph.D. from Caltech’s Sternberg Lab in 2000, studying nematode behavior and G protein signaling pathways. She joined the WormBase project upon graduating and has remained with it since. WormBase, a Caltech-led international collaboration, maintains an online database of genetic information about nematodes used by more than 1,000 research laboratories worldwide. The project was named a Global Core Biodata Resource by the Global Biodata Coalition.
Chen also serves as WiBBE liaison on the organization’s board. Each year, she applies her skills in scientific communication to a Chinese cultural topic for the Lunar New Year. Past presentations have included “Working Women in Ancient China” in 2024, “The Science of Tea Making” in 2023, and “Traditional Chinese Attire” in 2021, according to a previous Pasadena Now report. The topic “Chinese Medicine and Meditation” was also the subject of her 2022 talk.
Tea and Asian pastries will be served beginning at 11 a.m. in the Chen Breezeway. The presentation begins at 11:30 a.m. in Chen 100, located in the Chen Neuroscience Research Building at 1200 E. California Blvd. The event runs until 12:30 p.m. For more information, call 626-395-4652 or register online through the event link.
“Chinese Americans are in the middle of the geopolitical conflict between China and the U.S.,” Chen said in the 2024 interview. “I hope my activism at Caltech can help the community distinguish Chinese people from the Chinese Communist Party.”
