Walter W. Chen, MD, PhD

@walterwchen.bsky.social

Neonatologist + incoming Asst Prof in Mol Bio at UTSW via Harvard/MIT MD-PhD, Harvard Pediatric Residency, UTSW Neonatology Fellowship, Postdoc in RJD Lab | STAT Wunderkind, ASCI E-Gen Award, BWF CAMS Studying #metabolism, #mitochondria, #peroxisomes

Big congrats to my postdoc mentor @rjdlab.bsky.social on his election to NAS!! 🎉🎉🎉 An inspiring physician-scientist and wonderful person and mentor.

Children's Research Institute at UT Southwestern@cri-utsw.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🌟From the desk of @seanjmorrison.bsky.social: It's a great day for CRI, which now has 2 @nasonline.org members. Congratulations to @rjdlab.bsky.social and his laboratory on this recognition for the quality and impact of their work! #relentlessdiscovery 🧪 cri.utsw.edu/deberardinis...

Really thrilled to have our work on mitochondrial presequence strength out today @jcb.org. We establish quantitative parameters to better define "strong" and "weak" presequences both in vitro and in vivo. This work was spearheaded by the ever talented Youmian Yan, a BBSB graduate student in my lab.

Journal of Cell Biology@jcb.org · 7mo ago

Yan, @ianofbristol.bsky.social, @nieminm.bsky.social et al. define quantitative parameters underlying the strength of mitochondrial-targeting presequences, and demonstrate that yeast require strong presequences to facilitate select metabolic pathways in #mitochondria. rupress.org/jcb/article/...

Thrilled to announce the launch of my lab @cri-utsw.bsky.social at UTSW this January! We will explore how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces, focusing on membrane mechanics to reveal how tension and signaling work together to shape cell behavior.

Children's Research Institute at UT Southwestern@cri-utsw.bsky.social · 10mo ago

We're growing! Our newest Investigator @henrydebelly.bsky.social will join the CRI Tissue #Regeneration Program in January 2026. Learn more about Henry ➡️ cri.utsw.edu/faculty/henr... and 📌apply to research in his lab cri.utsw.edu/careers

Lab’s 1st preprint! Menstruation is understudied due to societal taboos + a biological challenge: mice (a key system for research + drug discovery) don’t menstruate. @cagricevrim.bsky.social made menstruating mice + used them to discover early events in menstruation. He is on the job market!

Çağrı Çevrim@cagricevrim.bsky.social · 10mo ago

I’m thrilled to share my postdoc work and the first paper from the McKinley Lab! 🎉 @karalmckinley.bsky.social We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice. We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵

Excited to share that I’ve started my lab as an assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
 Thank you to all the mentors, friends, and colleagues who have supported me throughout the years!

First post here! Excited to share a new paper and online resource from our lab published today. We developed a mass spectrometry approach that leverages genetic diversity to systematically nominate functional relationships between metabolites and proteins. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Covariation MS uncovers a protein that controls cysteine catabolism - Nature

A mass spectrometry-based approach globally identifies protein regulators of metabolism and reveals the role of LRRC58 in controlling cysteine catabolism.

nature.com

Excited to join the @cri-utsw.bsky.social community to advance discoveries in genome instability. We are grateful to UTSW Pathology for 6 wonderful years. 🚨 We are also recruiting motivated postdocs to study how mitotic errors and aberrant nuclear structures drive cancer genome evolution—join us!

Children's Research Institute at UT Southwestern@cri-utsw.bsky.social · 11mo ago

WELCOME to the Institute, @peterlylab.bsky.social! Dr. Ly studies how cells maintain genomic integrity and how dysregulation of these processes impacts human health. 🧪Learn more about his research 👉 cri.utsw.edu/faculty/pete... #relentlessdiscovery