2026 Jeffrey M Hoeg ATVB Award for Basic Science and Clinical Research Lecturer - Hong Chen, PhD, FAHA

Hong Chen, PhD, FAHA, is Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Senior Scientist in the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is internationally recognized for elucidating how endocytic adaptor proteins regulate vascular biology and for translating those discoveries into new concepts in atherosclerosis. Her seminal 1998 Nature paper identified epsin as a key endocytic adaptor protein, laying the foundation for a body of work that has since established epsins as pivotal regulators of endothelial signaling, vascular inflammation, macrophage biology, and plaque progression.

Dr. Chen’s research has advanced the mechanistic understanding of atherosclerosis by showing that endothelial epsins drive endothelial dysfunction through loss of IP3R1 and heightened endoplasmic reticulum stress, while also promoting endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition through enhanced TGFβ1 signaling and diminished FGFR1 signaling. Her laboratory further demonstrated that myeloid epsins accelerate foam-cell formation and plaque progression by promoting CD36-mediated cholesterol uptake, impairing LRP1-dependent efferocytosis, and suppressing ABCG1-dependent cholesterol efflux, thereby limiting lesional resolution and plaque regression. Together, these discoveries have linked endocytic trafficking to central features of atherogenesis and opened new avenues for prevention and treatment.

Dr. Chen has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications in journals including Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Communications, Circulation, Circulation Research and Journal of Clinical Investigation. Her work has been recognized by the Irvine H. Page Young Investigator Research Award, the Alan T. Hirsch Mid-Career Investigator Award in Vascular Medicine, the American Heart Association Established Investigator Award, and the 2024 ATVB Special Recognition Award in Arteriosclerosis.