Many diseases, including bone and joint conditions and cancers, are driven by changes in how individual cells use nutrients. Much of this biology remains hidden because it occurs deep within complex tissues and at extremely small scales. A major challenge is that conventional methods often require cells to be removed from their natural environment. These approaches can reveal what molecules are present, but not necessarily which cells are using them, where this is happening, or how neighbouring cells behave differently. As a result, important processes that drive disease progression or determine whether a treatment reaches its intended target can be overlooked.
Dr Kai Chen has developed advanced imaging approaches that reveal how nutrients and medicines are used by individual cells within intact tissues. His work has shown how nutrients are metabolised in bone and how RNA-based medicines move through cells and tissues. He is now applying these technologies to understand how metabolism changes in osteoporosis and cancer, and how new therapies are delivered and function in tissues, with the goal of identifying new disease mechanisms and improving treatment.