Honglei Chen
MSU Foundation Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Current Hometown
Okemos
Born and raised
Born in a small town in Hebei province, China, and raised in Tianjin, China.
Hebei Province
Tianjin, China
Favorite Color
Blue sky and its clouds
Favorite Movie and/or musical group/singer
Many movies directed by Mr. An Li;
I still very much enjoy songs by Chinese singers from the 1990s, when I was in college, by Luo Dayou, Zhao Chuan, Zhang Yusheng, and Zheng Zhihua. As for active singers, Dao Lan, who is also about my age.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Playing soccer or working in my yard.
What is the most interesting/enjoyable place you have visited.
I love nature, from quiet neighborhood trails to the black sand beach in Iceland and the mountains of Zhangjiajie in China.
What is the most helpful advice you have received.
From my Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Katherine L. Tucker: “You are much better than you think.” I am sure she does not remember saying this, but her encouragement has, to some extent, shaped my life. She has always been inspiring and positive.
How did you become interested in your field? Was there a specific moment when you knew it was the right fit for you
Here’s the truth — nothing magical. When I graduated from Tufts, my friend was about to start her first faculty position, and her postdoc mentor needed a substitute. I went to Harvard and met her mentor, Dr. Alberto Ascherio — Yes, the Dr. Ascherio who won the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for discovering EB virus as a cause of multiple sclerosis. We spoke for about 30 minutes, and he offered me the position. At the time, I barely knew anything about Parkinson’s and dementia. Still, I was excited about the opportunity to work with a smart scientist at Harvard. I knew I had to excel, and along the way, I always managed to find aspects of my research that excited me. Little by little, I fell in love with the work I do now.
What/who influenced you to select your area(s) of study and how has that impacted your career?
My postdoctoral advisor, Dr. Alberto Ascherio, is an incredibly smart scientist — and remarkably genuine in so many ways. My postdoc experience was less about formal training and more about the daily interactions I had with him, which proved to be incredibly rewarding. In my early years as an independent researcher, I often asked myself: How would Alberto handle this situation?
Dr. Dale P. Sandler from NIEHS has also profoundly shaped my scientific career. I must admit that I was not fully prepared for my first tenure-track job 20 years ago. I learned nearly everything I needed to become an independent scientist through the trust and support of Dr. Sandler and NIEHS colleagues. Dr. Sandler supported me through some of my most challenging times, and her steadfast support has continued ever since.
Describe your current research or area of interest
Parkinson’s disease and dementia often take decades to develop, and by the time they are diagnosed, it is generally too late to intervene effectively. My research focuses on identifying who is at risk for these diseases, what factors contribute to that risk, how risk evolves over time, when early warning signs emerge, and how we might intervene to prevent or delay disease onset.
This interest has also led me to study poor olfaction — a common prodromal symptom of both Parkinson’s disease and dementia—as a kind of “miner’s canary,” signaling declining health in older adults.
What advice would you give to a student?
Believe in yourself, work hard, find excitement, and stay positive!