HomeDate: 2026-01-29
Distinguished Research Fellow Yu-Ju Chen of the Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica, was recently awarded the 2025 Distinguished Achievement in Proteomic Sciences Award from HUPO (Human Proteome Organization). This award is HUPO’s most prestigious international honor and recognizes leading scientists who have made outstanding scientific achievements in proteomic science and have made seminal contributions to the advancement and global impact of the field.
Announced by HUPO, Dr. Yu-Ju Chen is a trailblazer in proteomics whose transformative innovations have reshaped both biological discovery and clinical translation. She brings novel chemistry (functional nanomaterial and microfluidics) into proteomics to pioneer ultra-sensitive mass spectrometry for membrane proteome and PTMomics, enabling nanoscale-to-single-cell proteomic analysis, such as the first single-cell phosphoproteomics landscape that offers critical insights into cancer heterogeneity and treatment resistance. Dr. Chen also invented nanoprobe-based affinity mass spectrometry, leading to the discovery of serum protein variant barcodes as novel biomarkers for non-invasive early cancer detection. Most notably, she founded Taiwan Cancer Moonshot Program and led the first proteogenomic study of non-smoking lung cancer, identifying distinct pathogenesis mechanisms and a high-risk “late-like” subtype, now informing treatment decisions (Cell, Cancer Cell). Her team also constructed "Taiwan Cancer Multi-Omics Precision Medicine Knowledgebase" as a publicly accessible resource. Her pioneering technologies and discoveries have reshaped global understanding of cancer biology and accelerated precision medicine.
