Congratulations to Dr. You Chen, PhD, FAMIA, on receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)—the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on early-career scientists and engineers.
On January 14th, former President Joe Biden honored nearly 400 federally funded researchers with this prestigious award, recognizing their innovative contributions to science and technology. PECASE recipients are selected for their exceptional potential as leaders in their fields, advancing groundbreaking research with real-world impact.
Dr. Chen is a tenured Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he specializes in health data science, network medicine, drug safety, and artificial intelligence. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Sciencefrom the Chinese Academy of Sciences and has since made significant strides in biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt. In addition to his research, he teaches the course “Network Analysis in Healthcare,” which applies computational and network theory techniques to improve healthcare systems.
Dr. Chen’s research has led to advancements in electronic health records (EHR) analysis, healthcare process modeling, care coordination, drug safety, and health equity. As the founder of the Optimization of Health Processes and Networks Laboratory (OHPENLab), he and his team harness machine learning, artificial intelligence, knowledge graphs, and network medicine to enhance healthcare delivery and patient safety.
His PECASE recognition underscores the importance of biomedical informatics in shaping the future of healthcare. Congratulations again to Dr. Chen on this well-deserved honor!