UT Southwestern biochemist Zhijian ‘James’ Chen to receive 2026 Brinster Prize
DALLAS – Sept. 9, 2025 – Zhijian “James” Chen, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center and one of the world’s top researchers on innate immunity, has been awarded the 2026 Elaine Redding Brinster Prize in Science or Medicine in recognition of his discovery of the cGAS enzyme and its role in immune response.
“I am extremely honored and humbled to be selected as the fifth recipient of the Elaine Redding Brinster Prize,” said Dr. Chen, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Director of the Center for Inflammation Research at UT Southwestern. “This prize is very special not only because Dr. Ralph Brinster is one of my scientific heroes but also because it epitomizes the key role of family support in the success of a scientist. I myself have benefited from the strong support of my family, as well as my colleagues and mentors. This prize is a recognition of the hard work and dedication of the researchers, trainees, and staff members in my lab who have contributed to the discoveries of cGAS and other molecules involved in our body’s immune defense.”
The Brinster Prize is awarded annually by the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania to a researcher whose discovery has made a unique impact on biomedicine. It is supported by an endowment from the children of Elaine Redding Brinster and Ralph L. Brinster, V.M.D., Ph.D., the Richard King Mellon Professor of Reproductive Physiology at the University of Pennsylvania and a National Medal of Science recipient.
Announcing the award, Penn Medicine said Dr. Chen’s research has “opened up a new area of science by showing how our immune system spots harmful DNA from germs, like bacteria and viruses, and starts fighting them.”
Dr. Chen’s discoveries include MAVS, the first mitochondrial protein known to be involved in immunity against infections. The protein’s name both describes its function (mitochondrial antiviral signaling) and honors his favorite basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks. In 2012, his laboratory identified cGAS (cyclic GMP-AMP synthase), which triggers the innate immune system when it detects foreign DNA inside a cell. He and his colleagues are now studying the complex biochemical pathways by which cGAS works.
Dr. Chen’s research has been recognized with some of the most esteemed awards in science, including the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (2024), the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2023), and the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2019).
Dr. Chen is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. At UTSW, he is a member of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense as well as the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. He holds the George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science.
The Brinster Prize will be presented March 18, 2026, as part of the daylong Ralph L. Brinster Symposium at Penn’s Philadelphia campus. The prize comes with an award of $200,000.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty members have received six Nobel Prizes and include 24 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 23 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 3,200 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in more than 80 specialties to more than 140,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 5.1 million outpatient visits a year.