Chun Ju Chang grew up in Taiwan, where her early passion for science led her abroad to pursue advanced study. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she was recognized with the 2002 Research Competition Award and the 2005 Graduate Student Representative Award for her academic excellence and leadership.
Following her doctoral work, Chang completed postdoctoral training at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the world’s leading cancer research institutions. During this time, she earned multiple honors, including the 2011 Trainee Award for Research Excellence, the Amgen Award in Basic Science Research, the AACR Women in Cancer Research Scholar Award, and the Lupe C. Garcia Fellowship in Cancer Research. She also received the Heath Memorial Fund Outstanding Research Publication Award and the Recognition Award for Outstanding Scientific Productivity.
Her career advanced with a faculty appointment as Associate Professor at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York, where she combined cutting-edge research with mentorship. She later returned to Taiwan to join China Medical University as a Professor, where she continues to lead cancer biology research and train young scientists.
Chang is an active member of the Women in Cancer Research group within the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), reflecting her commitment to advancing opportunities for women in science. With numerous publications, awards, and ongoing mentorship, she remains a respected leader whose work emphasizes persistence, rigor, and collaboration in the fight against cancer.
Q&A:
Interviewer: You’ve built a career that spans continents, from Taiwan to the United States and back again. When you think about success, what did it mean to you as a young student in Taiwan?
Chun Ju Chang: Growing up in Taiwan, success was very simple to me. It meant curiosity. I was the kind of child who asked too many questions in science class, and I wanted to know how things worked. At that time, success wasn’t about awards or titles. It was being allowed to explore. When I earned the chance to study abroad at UCLA, that felt like the first big step toward making curiosity into a real career.
Interviewer: At UCLA, you received the Research Competition Award in 2002 and the Graduate Student Representative Award in 2005. How did recognition during graduate school shape your idea of success?
Chang: Awards gave me confidence, but they also showed me that success isn’t solo work. My Research Competition Award project was based on long nights in the lab, but also on help from peers who challenged my experiments. Being elected Graduate Student Representative was the opposite—it was about listening to other students and speaking up for them. Those two experiences taught me that success comes in two forms: discovery and service.
Interviewer: You later trained at MD Anderson Cancer Center and collected several major honors. What was one moment from that period that stands out to you?
Chang: I’ll never forget the first time I won the AACR Women in Cancer Research Scholar Award. I was presenting work on tumor microenvironments, and I had been nervous because the room was filled with people whose papers I had studied as a student. After my talk, one of those senior researchers came up to me and asked to collaborate. That was the moment I realized success wasn’t about being perfect—it was about contributing something valuable enough that others wanted to build on it.
Interviewer: Many people imagine success as linear—study hard, win awards, move up. Did you experience setbacks along the way?
Chang: Of course. I once submitted a manuscript that was rejected three times in different journals. Each time the feedback was tough to read. Instead of giving up, I treated the comments as free advice. Eventually, the paper was accepted and later won the Heath Memorial Fund Outstanding Research Publication Award. That taught me that rejection is not failure; it is part of the process. Success often hides behind persistence.
Interviewer: You’ve held faculty roles in both the U.S. and Taiwan. How do cultural differences shape your view of success in science?
Chang: At Roswell Park in New York, success often looked like individual productivity—grants, publications, visibility. In Taiwan at China Medical University, there is more emphasis on collective achievement and training young scientists. For me, the balance is important. Personal achievement drives science forward, but mentoring ensures that the next generation carries the work further.
Interviewer: You’ve mentored many students. How do you talk to them about success?
Chang: I tell them not to measure success only by output. Yes, publications matter, but learning how to ask better questions is just as important. For example, I had one student who struggled with experiments for months. Instead of pushing harder, I asked her to step back and reframe the research question. Once she did that, the experiments worked better and the results became meaningful. Her success wasn’t the final result—it was the shift in thinking.
Interviewer: Outside of awards and recognition, what moments have felt most like success to you personally?
Chang: When I see a student I trained present at an international conference with confidence, that is success. When I receive an email from a collaborator years later saying that one of our findings inspired their next project, that is success. These moments are small but lasting. They remind me that success is not about one person’s name on a paper, but about building a chain of progress.
Interviewer: If you had to give one piece of advice to someone chasing success, what would it be?Chang: Don’t chase success directly. Chase persistence. Chase curiosity. Success is often the byproduct of sticking with a problem longer than most people are willing to. And be ready to share credit. Science and life both move faster when you don’t try to hold success all for yourself.