Rate My Professor Dongbao Chen

Dongbao Chen is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Professor of Pathology in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. He earned a Ph.D. in Reproductive Physiology from China Agricultural University in Beijing, China, followed by postdoctoral training in Reproductive Physiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and in Molecular Endocrinology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita, Kansas. His career appointments at UC Irvine include Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Professor in the Department of Experimental Pathology. Chen's research investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which hormones and growth factors regulate vasodilatation and angiogenesis at the maternal-fetal-placental interface, emphasizing reactive nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfide species such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and nitric oxide (NO). His work addresses uterine vascular function in pregnancy and preeclampsia, placental angiogenesis, and estrogen-induced endothelial responses.

As Principal Investigator, Chen directs multiple NIH-funded projects, including "Estrogen Actions on Uterine Artery Endothelium" (R01 HL070562, 2022-2026) and "H2S and Uterine Vasodilation in Pregnancy and Preeclampsia" (R01 HD105699, 2021-2026). He has been honored with election to the Council of the Perinatal Research Society (2010-2012), the NIH Young Investigator Award from the Perinatal Research Society (1999), and the Lalor Postdoctoral Fellowship (1997-1998). Key publications include "Trophoblast H2S maintains early pregnancy via regulating maternal-fetal interface immune hemostasis" (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2020), "Impaired imprinted X chromosome inactivation is responsible for the skewed sex ratio following in vitro fertilization" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2016), "Regulation of placental angiogenesis" (Microcirculation, 2014), "Pregnancy augments VEGF-stimulated in vitro angiogenesis and vasodilator (NO and H2S) production in human uterine artery endothelial cells" (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2017), and "Membrane estrogen receptor-dependent extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway mediates acute activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase by estrogen in uterine artery endothelial cells" (Endocrinology, 2004). His contributions have shaped understanding in perinatal vascular biology and reproductive medicine.