Meet SRNA Fellow Dr. Haiwen Chen
In January, we were pleased to announce that Dr. Haiwen Chen had been selected to receive the 2023 SRNA James T. Lubin Fellowship Clinician Scientist grant award. Today, Dr. Chen shares about her path to neurology and gives an overview of her fellowship research project.
Dr. Chen, congratulations on being SRNA’s 2023-2025 James T. Lubin Fellow! Can you share a little bit about yourself and your background?
Thank you so much! I’m very honored to have been selected. A little bit about me – I come from a first-generation immigrant family where my parents grew up during the cultural revolution, so they worked very hard to give me opportunities that they did not have, including an excellent education. For them the epitome of a good career was becoming a physician, so I was influenced with that idea for much of my childhood. In college I discovered that I really loved science (organic chemistry, which I know is not universally popular), and I was exposed to a lot of world-class scientists who really inspired me with their intense passion for science to pursue science as a career. I was then fortunate to be given a spot in the MD/PhD program at University of Maryland, where I had incredible mentors who taught me how to be a doctor and a scientist (which turned out to involve only somewhat overlapping skill sets). That ultimately led me to Johns Hopkins for residency in pediatric neurology, where I have also found amazing mentors who have continued to support my personal and career growth. I am fortunate to be married to an exceptionally supportive partner, and we have one human and two husky children, who are the delights of my life. When not working, we’re probably rock-climbing.
What first sparked your interest in pursuing neurology and specifically rare neuroimmune disorders?
I did my PhD in neuroscience, so I always knew I wanted to pursue a clinical specialty that aligned with my research interests. Neurology was a natural fit in that regard. I liked that neurology is fundamentally based on observation and examination, which is what I like about doing research as well. What cinched it for me was when I did my medical school sub-internship in pediatric neurology; I very much felt like I was working with people who had a similar outlook and approach to practicing medicine as I did, so in essence I felt like I found my people.
As to rare neuroimmune disorders specifically, I became interested because I began regularly seeing pediatric patients with neuroimmune disorders in varied presentations, especially MOGAD, and we did not have a pediatric neuroimmunologist to guide our care, so I saw an obvious clinical need. Furthermore, as a scientist, I love a mystery, so I also found neuroimmune disorders fascinating because we are relatively limited in our understanding of these disorders, so there were clearly many research questions that need to be answered. Thus, I decided that I could fill the clinical and research need and am really excited at the opportunity to use my background and training to do so.
What has been the best part of working with children and families as a pediatric neurologist?
I absolutely love watching the children I care for grow up. I have patients who I have literally known since the day they were born, so it is with great pride and delight that I get to watch them learn to crawl, walk, talk, and develop personalities. I love to hear about their interests and hobbies, and I love when they hold my hand to walk out of clinic or when I have to chase them down the hallway. As a parent myself, I continue to be deeply humbled by the parents of my patients, who entrust me with the responsibility of helping to take care of one of the most precious parts of their lives. No matter how different we may be as individuals, we share that commonality. There have certainly been difficult periods in my training – sometimes we work long hours in long stretches and are away from our own families – but it is the constant reminder that I’m working to continue to have the pleasure of watching these children grow up that I keep going.
Tell us a little bit about your fellowship research project. Who will be involved with the project and what is currently known about this topic? What kind of impact or outcomes do you hope the project will have?
My fellowship research project is to better understand what causes MOGAD both from a neurological perspective and an immunological perspective. MOGAD is a disease with significant variability but with potential for significant disease burden in relapsing disease. Thus, it is imperative that we identify markers for relapse so that we can appropriately treat patients who are likely to relapse while avoiding unnecessary immunosuppression in those who are not. The only way to do that is to better understand the mechanism of disease. So, from a neurological perspective, I want to understand how MOGAD disrupts connections between brain cells, and from an immunological perspective, I want to understand what triggers the development of the autoimmune response. I think once we start to uncover these pathways, we will have potential targets to test as biomarkers of disease. Then we can both better decide who requires treatment, how we measure successful treatment, and identify novel targets for improving treatment.
Is there anything that you would like to share with the SRNA community, including people diagnosed with rare neuroimmune disorders and their loved ones?
I want people to know that we are aware of how much needs to be done still, but we are making headway in our understanding of these rare neuroimmune disorders. To continue to do so we do really rely on our patients and families to engage with us, so I would encourage folks to participate in any way they can in supporting research.
