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In 2016, Yabing Chen, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Birmingham VA Health Care System and professor of pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, received a prestigious VA

Research Career Scientist Award that provided five years of salary. Now she has taken an even larger step — a Senior Research Career Scientist Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs

that will give her seven more years of salary support.  These senior-level awards recognize VA health services researchers who are international leaders in their field, and only those who

have been a research career scientist for at least five years can advance to the senior level. “Chen is the first researcher at the Birmingham VA to receive this highest honor for a

non-physician scientist,” said Louis Dell’Italia, M.D., associate chief of staff for Research at the Birmingham VA Health Care System and a professor emeritus in the UAB School of Medicine 

Division of Cardiovascular Disease. Chen’s research focuses on major health burdens that include vascular calcification and stiffness, vascular aging, and vascular contribution to cognitive

impairments. In detail, this includes studies of what molecular mechanisms of vascular smooth cell phenotypic modulation and reprogramming are at work during the pathogenesis of vascular

disease, vascular calcification in atherosclerosis (colloquially called hardening of the arteries), arterial stiffness, diabetic vasculopathy and vascular aging. Her work has garnered

continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association since coming to UAB in 2004. Chen’s ongoing VA-funded research seeks to uncover the molecular

mechanisms underlying vascular complications in diabetes, an important health problem for Veterans and non-Veterans alike.  Chen’s research discoveries in the areas of the reprogramming of

vascular cells and the crosstalk between vascular cells in the development of arteriosclerosis have shed new lights on vascular calcification and aging. Among Chen’s intriguing discoveries

are: * Her notable Circulation Research report that gave the first genetic proof for the key role of an osteogenic transcriptional factor, Runx2, in regulating calcification of smooth muscle

cells. * Her Circulation Research finding of a novel mechanism in diabetes underlying the role of protein-O-GlcNAC modification in promoting vascular calcification. * The role of dietary

potassium in regulating vascular calcification in atherosclerosis. Thisdiscovery has uncovered a potential dietary intervention for vascular calcification, and it has been highlighted by the

NIH and featured in multiple news outlets, including Newsweek, Science Daily and USA Today. Chen has published more than 70 papers in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals, and she received a

Vascular Biology Special Recognition Award in 2018 from the American Heart Association for her outstanding contribution to vascular biology research.   Chen values collaboration. Besides

Dell’Italia, she has worked with UAB researchers Anupam Agarwal, M.D., Paul Sanders, M.D., John Chatham, Ph.D., Xinyang Zhao, Ph.D., Gangjian Qin, Ph.D., Martin Young, Ph.D., Jeonga Kim,

Ph.D., and Zechen Chong, Ph.D. These diverse colleagues variously represent the UAB Department of Medicine’s divisions of Nephrology, Cardiovascular Disease, and Endocrinology, Diabetes and

Metabolism, as well as the UAB departments of Pathology, Biomedical Engineering, Genetics, and Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. Her dedication to teaching and mentoring has been

recognized by a UAB Graduate School Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentorship and a UAB School of Medicine Dean’s Excellence Award for Mentorship. At UAB, Chen holds the Jay M. McDonald,

M.D., Endowed Professorship in Laboratory Medicine. Chen earned her undergraduate degree at Fudan University, Shanghai, and her Ph.D. at Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. Chen joined BVAHCS

in 2005 and the UAB Department of Pathology in 2004. Chen also earned an MBA degree at the University of Vermont during her postdoctoral training.