Junwen Chen

Associate Professor Junwen Chen is a prominent researcher in the School of Medicine and Psychology at the Australian National University, where she serves as International Programs Coordinator. She also holds an Adjunct Senior Lecturer position at the University of Adelaide (2019-2027). With over two decades of academic experience across Japan and Australia, her career trajectory shows steady progression from Research Associate at Waseda University to her current leadership role at ANU.

Dr. Chen's research program centers on anxiety disorders, with particular emphasis on Social Anxiety Disorder and transdiagnostic processes across anxiety and depression. Her work investigates three interconnected domains: (1) the cognitive mechanisms maintaining social anxiety through biased information processing; (2) development and evaluation of intervention programs targeting excessive worry using behavioral and emotion regulation approaches; and (3) cross-cultural manifestations of social anxiety. Her methodological approach combines experimental, clinical, and longitudinal designs with increasing incorporation of neuroscientific methods in recent work.

Analysis of her recent publications (2023-2025) reveals a sophisticated research program expanding into school-based interventions, cross-cultural applications, and transdiagnostic approaches to anxiety disorders. Her work increasingly examines social identity factors, cognitive biases, and emotion regulation as both mechanisms and treatment targets. Notably, she has strengthened interdisciplinary collaborations, particularly with educational researchers and cross-cultural psychologists, while maintaining her core focus on social anxiety.

Dr. Chen actively supervises research students and leads significant grant-funded projects including the development of mobile health interventions for perinatal mental health and the CHIME Australia project exploring social singing for perinatal mental health. Her research demonstrates consistent productivity with over 50 publications and an h-index of 18, reflecting substantial impact in clinical psychology and mental health research.

Her laboratory work focuses on cognitive processes in anxiety, with particular expertise in interpretation bias, emotion regulation strategies, and cross-cultural manifestations of social anxiety. Recent projects indicate expansion into school-based interventions and digital mental health solutions, suggesting evolving research directions that maintain her core expertise while addressing contemporary mental health challenges.