Zhou-Feng Chen

Zhou-Feng Chen, discoverer of the first "itch gene," joined Shenzhen Bay Laboratory's Institute of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders as a senior researcher in 2023, after his decades-old laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis was forced to close amid investigations connected to the Trump-era China Initiative.

Chen earned his BS in virology from Wuhan University in 1983 and his PhD in mouse genetics from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 1994 under Richard Behringer. After postdoctoral training in David Anderson's lab at Caltech, he joined Washington University School of Medicine's Department of Anesthesiology as an assistant professor in 2000, becoming a full professor in 2009 and later the Russell D. and Mary B. Shelden Professor of Anesthesiology. He directed the university's Center for the Study of Itch, with joint appointments in psychiatry and developmental biology.

Chen's team discovered the first itch-specific gene and receptor, gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR), along with the dedicated neural circuit in the spinal cord that carries itch signals separately from pain signals — settling a long-standing scientific debate about whether itch and pain share the same neural pathway. "Professor Chen's work on the mechanisms of itch is groundbreaking," Shenzhen Bay Laboratory said in announcing his appointment. "His team discovered the first 'itch gene' and how the sensation is transmitted in neural circuits."