S. H. Annabel Chen is a clinical neuropsychologist and professor of psychology at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She is President's Chair in Psychology at NTU's School of Social Sciences, Director of the Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE), and Interim Director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging Centre (CoNIC). Annabel is also Director of the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC). CLIC is an NRF-CREATE programme in collaboration with the University of Cambridge. Her academic appointments include affiliations with the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and the National Institute of Education.

Education and Training

Annabel received her doctorate in clinical rehabilitation psychology from Purdue University. She completed a clinical psychology internship in behavioural medicine and psychiatry at West Virginia University School of Medicine, followed by a post-doctoral clinical residency in adult clinical neuropsychology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She later worked as a post-doctoral research affiliate at the Lucas MRS/I Center, Stanford University School of Medicine.

Career

Before joining NTU, Annabel was an assistant professor in the Graduate Clinical Psychology programme at National Taiwan University. At NTU, she has served as Associate Chair for Research in the former School of Humanities and Social Sciences and as Deputy Chair for the NTU Institutional Review Board's social, behavioural, and educational research domain.

Annabel currently directs the Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE), serves as Interim Director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging Centre (CoNIC), and directs the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC). She also leads the Clinical Brain Lab, which conducts work across clinical cognitive neuroscience, learning, ageing, and socioaffective neuroscience.

Honours

In 2024, Annabel assumed the President's Chair in Psychology at NTU. In 2023, she received the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) at Singapore's National Day Awards in recognition of public service.

Research

Annabel's research programme integrates behavioural, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging approaches to examine brain-behaviour relationships and the role of the cerebellum in higher cognition. Her work spans clinical neuropsychology, cerebellar contributions to cognition and neuropsychiatric disorders, ageing neuroscience, and applications of neuropsychology and neuroimaging to learning and education. Current areas of research in her lab include cerebellar-cortical networks, healthy brain ageing, neurostimulation, language and reading networks, the science of learning, and social-affective cognition.

Across these areas, she applies methods such as functional MRI, diffusion MRI, EEG, fNIRS, TMS, tDCS, and cognitive assessment in healthy and clinical populations.

Public Engagement and Media

Annabel's public commentary and outreach have included media discussion of adult literacy, reading, ageing, learning, bilingualism, and the science of learning. In 2025, Lianhe Zaobao reported on her keynote address at Hwa Chong Institution's Asian Youth Chinese Forum, where she discussed bilingual brains, global thinking, artificial intelligence, and intercultural understanding. In 2025, CNA/TODAY quoted her on the consequences of declining adult literacy in Singapore, and The Straits Times cited her comments on literacy trends in the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies.

Earlier media and institutional features include a 2017 Straits Times article, republished by the Council for Third Age, on reading and brain function, a 2017 NTU Pushing Frontiers feature on CRADLE and lifelong learning, and a CNA documentary episode on ageing and curiosity.

Selected Publications

• National identity reconfigures brain responses from them to us, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026).
• Personalized Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Behavioral and Neurophysiologic Outcomes, JAMA Network Open (2025).
• Longitudinal evaluation of common and unique brain-networks in variants of primary progressive aphasia, Alzheimer's Research & Therapy (2025).
• Cognitive and neural mechanisms of learning and interventions for improvement across the adult lifespan: A systematic review, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (2025).
• Brain entropy, fractal dimensions and predictability: A review of complexity measures for EEG in healthy and neuropsychiatric populations, European Journal of Neuroscience (2022).
• Reading proficiency influences the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation, Brain and Language (2020).

External Links

• Clinical Brain Lab profile
• CRADLE profile at NTU Singapore
• NTU research profile
• ORCID profile
• Google Scholar profile

Sources

1. "Annabel CHEN Shen-Hsing". Centre for Research and Development in Learning, NTU Singapore.
2. "Our People". School of Social Sciences, NTU Singapore.
3. "Chair Professorships at NTU & MOE-NTU". College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, NTU Singapore.
4. "Our People". Brain and Learning research cluster, NTU Singapore.
5. "Shen-Hsing Annabel Chen". SAGE Publications.
6. "Chair Professorships at NTU & MOE-NTU". School of Social Sciences, NTU Singapore.
7. "Contributions of NTU faculty and staff recognised with National Day honours". NTU Singapore.

In the News

1. "华中“亚洲青年华语论坛”：从多元议题出发 青少年在世界变局中思辨未来重塑坐标". Lianhe Zaobao.
2. "Singapore adults' ability to read or write in English is below OECD average. What's the problem?" CNA/TODAY.
3. "Singapore improves in OECD ranking of adult skills, but atrophy in literacy a concern". The Straits Times.
4. "Reading gives brain a workout". The Straits Times, republished by the Council for Third Age.
5. "A leading light in lifelong learning". NTU Singapore.
6. "When We Age - Keep Being Curious". CNA.