Dr. Wen Chen

Research Scientist

Dr. Wen Chen is a Research Scientist at the Ottawa Research & Development Centre (ORDC), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). She specializes in Bioinformatics, Biodiversity and Environmental Health. Her lab focuses on (meta)genomics-based phytomicrobiome research addressing questions on phytopathogen biovigilance, agroecosystem resilience, and environmental impacts. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biology, Ottawa University, and a core member of the Ottawa-Carleton Joint Bioinformatics Program. Dr. Chen is an Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, and a standing committee member of the Canadian Phytopathological Society.

Current research and/or projects

The lab utilizes and develops integrated omics and bioinformatics approaches to address questions on microbial biodiversity discovery, phytopathogen biovigilance, agroecosystem sustainability and resilience, as well as the environmental impacts of agricultural production.

Research and/or project statements

  • Agricultural microbiome research
  • Bioinformatics tools development for high-risk pathogen detection/identification
  • Genomics and metagenomics-driven phytopathogen monitoring and modeling through agriculture and agri-food value chain
  • Harnessing phytomicrobiome for sustainable plant disease management
  • Metagenomics-based ecosystem biomonitoring

Professional activities / interests

  • An active member of the European Commission Microbiome Support Expert Pool, AAFC’s Microbiome Advisory Group, and USDA-AAFC Cooperation in Agricultural R&D Action Plan.
  • The lab provides research opportunities for Ph.D., M.Sc., and Honors students with a major in Biology, Bioinformatics/Computational Biology, Biostatistics, Molecular Biology, and/or related fields.

Education and awards

  • Ph.D. Molecular Biology in Plant Science, University of Wolverhampton, UK.
  • 2010 AAFC Science Achievement Award

International experience and/or work

  • AAFC-USDA: Collaboration on Genotyping and Monitoring of High-Risk Plant Pathogens
  • AAFC-University of Brest, France: Management of soil microbial communities to reduce the incidence of Fusarium head blight of cereals and evaluation of a biocontrol strategy
  • AAFC-Inner Mongolia Agricultural University: Oats Stress Resistance Germplasm Innovation and its Cultivation Physiological Regulation
  • AAFC-Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences: The research on the prediction and control technology of the major migratory pests and epidemic diseases of crops

Research facility

960 Carling Avenue
Ottawa, ON K1A 0C6
Canada

Affiliations

  • Adjunct Professor at the Department of Biology, Ottawa University
  • Core member of the Ottawa-Carleton Joint Bioinformatics Program
  • Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology (CJPP)
  • Standing Committee Member of the Canadian Phytopathological Society (CPS)
  • Member of American Phytopathological Society
  • Member of American Society of Microbiology
  • Member of International Society for Computational Biology

Language

English