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Audrey Chen Lew

Audrey Chen Lew

Associate Professor of Teaching, Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine
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Biography

Audrey Chen Lew, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior in the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Her research group develops and tests tools that teach students how to transfer their knowledge of biology and neuroscience core concepts across contexts to understand novel and complex phenomena. She received her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and completed postdoctoral training at the California Institute of Technology.

Chen Lew serves as Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation grant focused on developing instructional materials to promote transfer of biology core concept knowledge across scales and sub-disciplines. She has played a central role in developing community-derived core concepts for neuroscience higher education, publishing multiple articles on the development, unpacking, and utilization of these concepts. Current projects also center on the pedagogy of instructor feedback to students.

Chen Lew serves as Co-chair of the Neurobiology Major Advisory Board and as Neurobiology Course Editor for CourseSource. She has mentored over 50 students in research, including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and post-baccalaureate trainees. She received the UC Irvine School of Biological Sciences Inclusive Excellence Leadership Award in 2021.

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Education

  • B.A. in Molecular & Cell Biology with Neurobiology emphasis, University of California at Berkeley, 2004
  • M.S. in Neurobiology, University of California at Los Angeles, 2008
  • Ph.D. in Neurobiology, University of California at Los Angeles, 2012
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Distinctions

  • National Science Foundation DUE – IUSE – Engaged Student Learning: Level II, PI for Collaborative Research: Developing Instructional Materials to Promote Transfer of Biology Core Concept Knowledge Across Scales and Sub-disciplines, 2024-2027
  • Dean's Honoree for Teaching Excellence, Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 2024
  • UC Irvine School of Biological Sciences Inclusive Excellence Leadership Award, 2021
  • Biology Teaching Assistant Project (BioTAP) Scholar, 2020-2021
  • Academic Success Research Fellowship, UC Irvine Center for Assessment and Applied Research, 2020
  • Della Martin Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2012-2014
  • Recipient of Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, UCLA, 2007
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Exceptional Summer Student Award, 2003
  • Golden Key International Honour Society, University of California at Berkeley chapter, 2002
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Areas of Expertise

  • Biology Education Research
  • Knowledge Transfer
  • Neuroscience Core Concepts
  • Instructor Feedback Evaluation
  • Qualitative Assessment Methods

Recent Publications

  • Branchaw JL, Chen A, Knight JK, “ Developing and Using Biology Core Concept Teaching Tools” (opens in new tab), CourseSource, vol. 13, 2026.
  • Cooper KW, Tran EH, McIntosh BO, Lam T, Tat CT, Gallegos DM, Dukes AJ, Chen A, “Challenges that novices face in applying core concepts to neuroscience contexts” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Education, vol. 10, 2025.
  • Chen A, Phillips KA, Schaefer JE, Sonner PM, “Editorial: Utilization of neuroscience core concepts to guide programs, curricula, courses, and assessment in diverse institutional contexts” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 19, pp. 1595264, 2025.
  • Chen A, Phillips KA, Tran EH, Schaefer JE, Sonner PM, “Unpacking and Utilizing Neuroscience Core Concepts”, J Undergraduate Neuroscience Ed, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. E22-E27, 2024.
  • Chen A, Phillips KA, Schaefer JE, Sonner PM, “Community-derived Core Concepts for Neuroscience Higher Education” (opens in new tab), CBE-Life Sciences Education, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. ar18, 2023.
  • Chen A, Tarapore E, To AG, Catolico DM, Nguyen KC, Coleman MJ, Spence RD, “Introducing Immunohistochemistry to the Molecular Biology Laboratory”, Biochem Mol Biol Educ, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 229-236, 2022.
  • Chen A, Phillips KA, Schaefer JE, Sonner PM, “The Development of Core Concepts for Neuroscience Higher Education: From Beginning to Summer Virtual Meeting Satellite Session”, J Undergraduate Neuroscience Ed, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. A160-A164, 2022.
  • Hsu JL, Chen A, Cruz-Hinojoza E, Dinh-Dang D, Roth-Johnson EA, Sato BK, Lo SM, “Characterizing Biology Education Research: Perspectives from Practitioners and Scholars in the Field” (opens in new tab), Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. e00147-21, 2021.
  • Park ES, Harlow A, AghaKouchak A, Baldi B, Burley N, Buswell N, Crooks R, Denenberg D, Ditto P, Edwards K, Junqueira MG, Geragotelis A, Holton A, Lanning J, Lehman R, Chen A, Pantano A, Rinhart J, Walter M, Williams A, et al., “Instructor facilitation mediates students' negative perceptions of active learning instruction”, PLoS One, vol. 16, no. 12, pp. e0261706, 2021.
  • Chen A, “Strategies for Leading Weekly Teaching Assistant Meetings: Undergraduate Student Perceptions after Implementing Pedagogical Change”, Advances in Biology Laboratory Education, vol. 41, 2020.
  • Maheras AL, Dix B, Carmo OMS, Young AE, Gill VN, Sun JL, Booker AR, Thomason HA, Ibrahim AE, Stanislaw L, Dallego JC, Ngo CN, Chen A, Fortini BK, Spence RD, “Genetic Pathways of Neuroregeneration in a Novel Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Model in Adult Zebrafish”, eNeuro, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. ENEURO.0208-17.2017, 2018.
  • Chen A, Singh C, Oikonomou G, Prober DA, “Genetic Analysis of Histamine Signaling in Larval Zebrafish Sleep”, eNeuro, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. ENEURO.0286-16.2017, 2017.
  • Lee DA, Andreev A, Truong TV, Chen A, Hill AJ, Oikonomou G, Pham U, Hong YK, Tran S, Glass L, Sapin V, Engle J, Fraser SE, Prober DA, “Genetic and Neuronal Regulation of Sleep by Neuropeptide VF”, eLife, vol. 6, no. 6, pp. e25727, 2017.
  • Martin CA, Myers KM, Chen A, Martin NT, Barajas A, Schweizer FE, Krantz DE, “Ziram, a pesticide associated with increased risk for Parkinson's disease, differentially affects the presynaptic function of aminergic and glutamatergic nerve terminals at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction”, Exp Neurol, vol. 275, pp. 232-241, 2016.
  • Chen A, Chiu CN, Mosser EA, Kahn S, Spence R, Prober DA, “QRFP and Its Receptors Regulate Locomotor Activity and Sleep in Zebrafish”, J Neurosci, vol. 36, no. 6, pp. 1823-1840, 2016.
  • Freyberg Z, Sonders MS, Aguilar JI, Hiranita T, Karam CS, Flores J, Pizzo AB, Zhang Y, Farino ZJ, Chen A, Martin CA, Kopajtic TA, Fei H, Hu G, Lin Y-Y, Mosharov EV, McCabe BD, Freyberg R, Wimalasena K, Hsin L-W, et al., “Mechanisms of Amphetamine Action Illuminated through Optical Monitoring of Dopamine Synaptic Vesicles in Drosophila Brain”, Nat Commun, vol. 7, pp. 10652, 2016.
  • Grygoruk A, Chen A, Martin CA, Lawal HO, Fei H, Gutierrez G, Biedermann T, Najibi R, Hadi R, Chouhan AK, Murphy NP, Schweizer FE, Macleod GT, Maidment NT, Krantz DE, “The Redistribution of Drosophila Vesicular Monoamine Transporter Mutants from Synaptic Vesicles to Large Dense-Core Vesicles Impairs Amine-Dependent Behaviors”, J Neurosci, vol. 34, no. 20, pp. 6924-6937, 2014.
  • Chen A, Ng F, Lebestky T, Grygoruk A, Djapri C, Lawal HO, Zaveri HA, Mehanzel F, Najibi R, Seidman G, Murphy NP, Kelly RL, Ackerson LC, Maidment NT, Jackson FR, Krantz DE, “Dispensable, redundant, complementary and cooperative roles for dopamine, octopamine and serotonin in Drosophila melanogaster”, Genetics, vol. 193, no. 1, pp. 159-76, 2013.
  • Fei H, Chow DM, Chen A, Romero-Calderon R, Ong WS, Ackerson LC, Maidment NT, Simpson JH, Frye MA, Krantz DE, “Mutation of the Drosophila vesicular GABA transporter disrupts visual figure detection”, J Exp Biol, vol. 213, pp. 1717-1730, 2010.
  • Grygoruk A, Fei H, Daniels RW, Miller BR, Chen A, DiAntonnio A, Krantz DE, “Vesicular neurotransmitter transporter trafficking in vivo: moving from cells to flies”, Fly, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 302-305, 2010.
  • Fei H, Grygoruk A, Brooks ES, Chen A, Krantz DE, “Trafficking of Vesicular Neurotransmitter Transporters”, Traffic, vol. 9, pp. 1425-1436, 2008.
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Contact Information

Website: https://www.faculty.sites.uci.edu/audreychenlew/

Email: lewac@uci.edu

Phone: (949) 824-5607

Address: 1221 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-4550

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 8/29/2026.