Mei-Chuan Chen

I am Dr Mei-Chuan Chen (Kathy Chen), a Pulmonologist from Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taiwan. It was a tremendous honour for me to be selected for the APSR-ATS Young Investigator Award, with the exceptional chance to present my research to the world. With great expectation, I had been prepared for the International Poster Colloquium section of the ATS International Conference. However, I missed my wonderful opportunity to attend in-person by reason of active COVID-19 infection. So I was blessed that I could attend online and share my research with an e-poster.

Being a clinician, during COVID-19 pandemic, I have been actively participating in caring for infected patients and doing research for a better understanding of this disease. My e-poster entitled “Impact of Placenta-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Patients with Severe Lung Injury Caused by COVID-19 Pneumonia: Clinical, Serum Cytokine and Immune Aspect” is one of our team efforts on severe COVID-19 patients. As we know, this patient population has high mortality even with the currently well-known medical treatment. In this study, we tried placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells on those who were refractory to the standard treatment. We shared our experience of stem cells treatment in this novel infection from bedside to bench.

Apart from my research presentations, I was also impressed by various interesting presentation topics from global experts. For a young researcher, it was a great occasion to learn the distinct points of view.

This award inspires me how important the science is. It would have been impossible for me to achieve this award without a good leader and good teamwork, to whom my deepest respect belongs. It would also not have been feasible without my family’s great support and understanding. Being able to attend the congress, winning the APSR-ATS Young Investigator award, encourages me in variant aspects. Thank you for empowering me in this way!

Mei-Chuan Chen