主要研究视网膜细胞的分裂增殖、变性死亡和分化/重新编程，以及视网膜血管的形成机制。从分子水平探索常见眼底疾病（如视网膜肿瘤、视网膜变性和视网膜血管病变）的发病机制和防治策略。在Nature, Cancer Cell, Plos Biology, PNAS,Cancer Research, Oncogene, Cell Death and Differentiation等杂志发表多篇论文。 代表性论文： Chen D, Chen Y, Forrest D, Bremner R. E2f2 induces cone photoreceptor apoptosis independent of E2f1 and E2f3. Cell Death Differ. 2013 Jul; 20(7):931-40. Zencak D, Schouwey K*, Chen D*, Ekström P, Tanger E, Bremner R, van Lohuizen M, Arsenijevic Y. Retinal degeneration depends on Bmi1 function and reactivation of cell cycle proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Feb 12; 110(7):E593-601.*Equal contribution Sangwan M, McCurdy SR, Livne-Bar I, Ahmad M, Wrana JL, Chen D*, Bremner R*. Established and new mouse models reveal E2f1 and Cdk2 dependency of retinoblastoma, and expose effective strategies to block tumor initiation. Oncogene. 2012 Nov 29; 31(48):5019-28. *Co-corresponding Author Chen D, Pacal M, Wenzel P, Knoeplfer PS, Leone G, and Bremner R. Division and apoptosis of E2f-deficient retinal progenitors. Nature. 2009, 462:925-929. Chen D, Opavsky R, Pacal M, Tanimoto N, Wenzel P, Seeliger MW, Leone G, and Bremner R. Rb-Mediated Neuronal Differentiation through Cell-Cycle-Independent Regulation of E2f3a. PLoS Biol. 2007 Jul 3; 5(7):e179. Chen D, Livne-Bar I, Vanderluit JL, Slack RS, Agochiya M, and Bremner R: Cell-specific effects of RB or RB/p107 loss on retinal development implicate an intrinsically death-resistant cell-of-origin in retinoblastoma. Cancer Cell. 2004 Jun; 5(6):539-551 Chen D, Pajovic S, Duckett A, Brown VD, Squire JA, and Gallie BL: Genomic amplification in retinoblastoma narrowed to 0.6 megabase on chromosome 6p containing a kinesin-like gene, RBKIN. Cancer Res. 2002 Feb 15; 62(4):967-71.
