Long active in the student, environmental, and farmers-right movements in Taiwan, he earned a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies (STS) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Prof. Chen has worked closely with labor activists since the late 1990s, with special focus on campaigns against Taiwanese-owned sweatshops abroad such as Foxconn. In recent years, his research interest has focused upon occupational disease and the use of theories of scientific causation within the judicial process.