Medical Doctor, Master’s Supervisor, Director of Neurology Department, Shanghai Children’s Hospital Epilepsy Center Director, and part-time Associate Professor at OSF Children’s Hospital in the United States.
Member of the Brain Science Committee of the Pediatric Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. Chairman of the Collaboration Group on Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis and Related Diseases of the Neurology Specialty Group of the Pediatric Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Deputy Chairman of the Pediatric Neurology Specialty Group of the Shanghai Medical Association, Deputy Chairman of the Neuroimmunology Specialty Group of the Shanghai Immunology Society, Standing Committee Member of the Shanghai Epilepsy Association, Committee Member of the Child Diseases and Health Branch of the China Maternal and Child Health Association, and Committee Member of the Precision Medicine Professional Committee of the China Maternal and Child Health Association. Winner of the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award.
Engaged in clinical, research, and teaching work in pediatric neurology for a long time. The first researcher to discover the pathogenic gene CACNA1H for childhood absence epilepsy, and conducted in-depth research on the functional aspects of this mutation gene. A major contributor to the study of the pathogenic mechanism of the CACNA1H gene, this research work has won a series of honors, including the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award and the First Prize of Peking University’s Excellent Doctoral Dissertation. As of June 2023, published SCI papers have accumulated an impact factor of over 80, with a series of articles published in excellent foreign journals such as Ann Neurology (IF: 9.977) and Journal of Neuroscience (IF: 6.344). The number of citations exceeds 500. Four independent foreign review journals have positively evaluated Chen Yucai’s work, and some research results have been widely recognized and included in foreign textbooks.
During the postdoctoral period in the United States, the main research areas included the pathogenesis of epilepsy, neurogenetic diseases, and the interaction between the mitochondrial genome and the nuclear genome in human aging. Independently proposed that the imbalance between the mitochondrial genome and the nuclear genome may be the cause of human aging. This hypothesis has achieved some important verifications (unpublished). Previously served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago for 5 years, with rich clinical experience. In 2015, returned to China to join the Neurology Department of Shanghai Children’s Hospital as the department director. Played an important role in the rapid development of the Neurology Department of Shanghai Children’s Hospital. Currently, the Neurology Department of Shanghai Children’s Hospital has become the leading unit of the Collaboration Group on Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis and Related Diseases in China, the national center for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological rare diseases, and the China SMA Diagnosis and Treatment Center Alliance. In addition, after returning to China, obtained funding from the National Natural Science Foundation and the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, and established a specialized research team in the Neurology Department of Shanghai Children’s Hospital. The team has dedicated researchers participating in scientific research on the pathogenesis and treatment of rare neurological diseases. Significant progress has been made in the study of genetic leukoencephalopathy. A highly efficient testing method for very long-chain fatty acids has been developed in collaboration with the screening center, greatly improving the diagnostic efficiency. Additionally, in collaboration with the Hematology Department, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been performed on two cases of early-diagnosed patients with adrenoleukodystrophy and Zellweger syndrome, with good results.