Xuefei Chen

My pronouns are she/her I am a molecular microbiologist and chemical biologist working at the interface of natural product discovery, microbial genetics, and antifungal drug development. My research focuses on uncovering new vulnerabilities in fungal pathogens, with a particular emphasis on how membrane organisation and lipid asymmetry regulate cellular function and drug susceptibility. By integrating synthetic biology, fungal pathogenesis, and chemical biology, I aim to identify and characterise novel compounds that can overcome antifungal resistance. In parallel, my group develops engineered Streptomyces platforms to access cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters and enable scalable discovery of new antifungal scaffolds. My long-term goal is to establish membrane-associated processes as tractable targets for antimicrobial intervention and to translate mechanistic insights into next-generation antifungal therapeutics. I welcome students and collaborators interested in antifungal resistance, natural products, and interdisciplinary approaches spanning structure biology, microbiology, chemistry, and systems-level biology.