After graduate school at Caltech and post-doctoral training at Washington University and Caltech, Dr. Chiu joined City of Hope as the first woman recruited to the faculty in the Division of Neurosciences. Her research, on diseases afflicting motor neurons and on the role of the extracellular matrix in synapse formation, was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and foundations such as ALSA, the March of Dimes and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. In 1998 she joined the NIH serving as program director for Spinal Cord Injury and establishing the first program for Stem Cell Research at the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She was one of the founding members of the NIH Stem Cell Task Force and initiated and co-chaired a monthly meeting between NIH and the Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies of the Food and Drug Administration. Later she joined the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering as associate director overseeing the Office of Research Administration. In 2004, she received the NIH Director’s Award for her contributions to the development of stem cell research. In 2005, Dr. Chiu was recruited by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state’s stem cell agency as Director of Scientific Activities and later served as Interim Chief Scientific Officer. As one of the founding members of this new agency, Dr. Chiu played a key role in the organization and execution of the review process, in developing grants administration policy and procedures, and in the formation of a comprehensive, 10 year Strategic Plan. She returned to the City of Hope in 2008 as director of the Office of New Research Initiatives, and Professor-in-residence in the Beckman Research Institute where she fosters new research and partnerships to bring cell-based therapies to the clinic. She currently serves on several advisory boards and has played a pivotal role in helping Peking University establish its first Embryonic Stem Cell Oversight Committee. Dr. Chiu continues to be a strong mentor to young scientists, especially women, and a keen supporter of responsible conduct in research.