Dr. Pin-Chun Chen, Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London, has been named a Rising Star by the European Sleep Research Society (ESRS). Dr. Chen is the sole recipient of this award in the Basic Sleep Science category.
The Rising Star Award recognises innovative early-career researchers who use novel and rigorous methodologies to advance sleep science. Researchers are evaluated on the innovation and methodological rigour of their work, their scientific contribution to sleep science, and evidence of independence and leadership.
Dr. Chen’s research investigates how interactions between the brain and body create states that support memory processing during sleep. By integrating autonomic physiology, systems neuroscience and multimodal approaches across animal and human research, her work aims to understand when and how memories are processed during sleep.
Her research has shown that coordinated interactions between the autonomic and central nervous systems predict memory improvements during sleep and that this brain–body coupling deteriorates with ageing. She has since extended this work to investigate the timing of memory reactivation in the human brain using approaches including intracranial EEG, single-neuron recordings, MEG and scalp EEG.
Now at Royal Holloway, Dr. Chen is establishing an independent research programme investigating how slow brain–body dynamics determine when memories are processed during sleep, with implications for healthy ageing, Alzheimer’s disease, and memory disorders.
Commenting on the award, Dr. Chen said: “I’m incredibly honoured to have my work recognised by the largest sleep society in Europe. I’m very grateful to the mentors, collaborators, colleagues and students who have supported me and contributed to this work over the years.”
Find out more about Dr. Pin-Chun Chen and her research here.
