Chan began her career as an assistant professor of chemistry at Louisiana State University in 2000. In 2002 she was awarded an National Science Foundation CAREER Award and selected as one of the American Chemical Society women making an impact in chemistry. In 2004 Chan was awarded an ExxonMobil Faculty Fellowship Award. She was part of the 2010 American Chemical Society Women Chemists of Colour Summit. She joined the chemistry department at University of Texas at Dallas as a full professor in 2013. In 2022 Chan moved to Baylor University.
At the Baylor University, Chan investigates the physical properties of magnetic materials synthesized in her laboratory, with a focus on quantum materials that contain   lanthanide cations. She has developed new techniques to grow single crystals of intermetallic phases. She was the Guest Editor of the American Chemical Society Inorganic Chemistry theme issue on Solid-State Inorganic Chemistry. In 2019 Chan was inducted into the American Association for the Advancement of Science.