Dr. Chen joined the Engineering Systems and Environment Department's Civil and Environmental Engineering Program at University of Virginia in August 2015. Her research focuses on sustainable transportation systems (in particular modeling the impacts of new vehicle technologies systems on traveler behavior and the environment), travel demand modeling, transportation economics, and crash safety. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Chen worked in the consulting industry as a transportation planning engineer and has experience with roadway design, cost estimation, and traffic operation analyses.

Dr. Chen is involved in the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the American Society of Civil Engineers Transportation & Development Institute (ASCE TD&I), Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS).