Wan-Yi Chen is teaching Social Work Research Methods at Columbia University School of Social Work. She received a M.S.W from the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. After completing her M.S.W., she had served as a committee member on the Purchase of Contracted Services Project for the Taipei City Government as well as the Taipei Social Welfare League. In addition, she had administered the New Ideas Fund for the Department of Human Services of Philadelphia Quality of Work Life Project.

Her current research interest is to study the impact of direct community violence exposure on the mental health of American adolescents, with specific emphasis on African American and Asian American youth. She is also a doctoral candidate at CUSSW.