Chun-Wei (David) Chen, Ph.D.

[email protected]
626-218-5628
Chun-Wei (David) Chen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Systems Biology, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Research Area
  • Epigenetic Mechanisms for Therapeutic Resistance in Cancers
  • Therapeutic Target Discovery Using High Throughput Genetic Screens
Academic Appointments
  • Director, Division of Epigenetic and Transcriptional Engineering, Department of Systems Biology
Research Teams
Molecular and Cellular Biology
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Dr. Chen obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees in National Taiwan University and a Ph.D. degree in University of Rochester. He received his postdoctoral training in the Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining City of Hope, Dr. Chen served as a senior research scientist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and an instructor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School.
 
Dr. Chen’s laboratory in the Division of Epigenetics and Transcriptional Engineering, Department of Systems Biology – City of Hope National Medical Center is experienced in high-throughput functional genetic screens using the sgRNA/CRISPR libraries and coupled with next-generation sequencing. This laboratory is currently supported by several NIH (R01, R37, R00) and foundation (ASH) awards.

Education & Experience

Degrees

  • 2011, Ph.D., Pathology, University of Rochester

  • 1998, M.S., Bioindustrial Chemistry, National Taiwan University

  • 1996, B.S., National Taiwan University

Fellowship

  • 2011-2012, Postdoc Research Fellow, Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Professional Experience

  • 2017-present, Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA

  • 2016-2017, Instructor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

  • 2012-2016, Senior Research Scientist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

  • 2003-2005, Research Fellow, McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA

  • 2000-2003, Associate Researcher, Maxigen Biotech Inc. and Taipei Biotech Inc., Taiwan

Awards & Memberships

Awards

  • 2019, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) Innovation Award

  • 2019, NIH/NCI Research Award (R01)

  • 2019, Circle of Service Foundation (COSF) Research Development Award

  • 2018, NIH/NCI MERIT Award (R37)

  • 2018, ASH Scholar for Junior Faculty

  • 2016, Translational Research Training in Hematology Award (TRTH), European Hematology Association and the American Society of Hematology

  • 2016, NIH‐K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, National Cancer Institute

  • 2016, Translational Research Training in Hematology Award, European Hematology Association and the American Society of Hematology

  • 2016, NIH-K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, National Cancer Institute

Publications

  • L. Yang, A. Chan, K. Miyashita, C. Delaney, X. Wang, H.Li, S. Pokharel, S. Li, M. Li, X. Xu, W. Lu, Q. Liu, N. Mattson, K. Chen, J. Wang, Y.C. Yuan, D. Horne, S. Rosen, Y. Soto-Feliciano, Z. Feng, T. Hoshii, G. Xiao, M. Müschen, J. Chen, S.A. Armstrong, C.W. Chen (corresponding). High-resolution characterization of gene function using single-cell CRISPR tiling screen. Nature Communications. 2021;12(1):4063. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24324-0. PMID: 34210975. (IF = 14.919)
  • T.M. Schnoeder, A. Schwarzer, A.K. Jayavelu, CJ Hsu, J. Kirkpatrick, K. Döhner, F. Perner, T. Eifert, N. Huber, P. Arreba-Tutusaus, A. Dolnik, S.A. Assi, M. Nafria, L. Jiang, YT Dai, Z. Chen, SJ Chen, S.G. Kellaway, A. Ptasinska, E.S. Ng, E.G. Stanley, A.G. Elefanty, M. Buschbeck, H. Bierhoff, S. Brodt, G. Matziolis, KD. Fischer, A. Hochhaus, CW Chen, O. Heidenreich, M. Mann, S.W. Lane, L. Bullinger, A. Ori, B. von Eyss, C. Bonifer and F.H. Heidel. PLCG1 is required for AML1-ETO leukemia stem cell self-renewal. Blood. 2021 (accepted)(IF = 22.113)
  • Liu Q, Chan AKN, Chang WH, Yang L, Pokharel SP, Miyashita K, Mattson N, Xu X, Li M, Lu W, Lin RJ, Wang SY, Chen CW (corresponding). 3-Ketodihydrosphingosine reductase maintains ER homeostasis and unfolded protein response in leukemia. Leukemia. 2021 Aug 9. doi: 10.1038/s41375-021-01378-z. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34373586. (IF = 11.528)
  • A. Kumar, S.J. Lee, Q. Liu, A. Chan, S.P. Pokharel, J. Yu, CW Chen, and S. Swaminathan. Generation and validation of CRISPR-engineered human natural killer cell lines for research and therapeutic applications. STAR Protocols. 2021 (accepted)
  • T. Oliveira, M. Zhang, E.J. Joo, H. Abdel-Azim, CW Chen, L. Yang, CH Chou, X. Qin, J. Chen, K. Alagesan, A. Almeida, F. Jacob, N.H. Packer, M. von Itzstein, N. Heisterkamp and D. Kolarich. Glycoproteome remodeling in MLL-rearranged B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Theranostics. 2021; 11(19): 9519-9537. doi: 10.7150/thno.65398. (IF = 11.560)
  • Qing Y, Dong L, Gao L, Li C, Li Y, Han L, Prince E, Tan B, Deng X, Wetzel C, Shen C, Gao M, Chen Z, Li W, Zhang B, Braas D, Ten Hoeve J, Sanchez GJ, Chen H, Chan LN, Chen CW, Ann D, Jiang L, Müschen M, Marcucci G, Plas DR, Li Z, Su R, Chen J. R-2-hydroxyglutarate attenuates aerobic glycolysis in leukemia by targeting the FTO/m6A/PFKP/LDHB axis. Molecular Cell. 2021;81(5):922-939.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.12.026. PMID: 33434505; PMCID: PMC7935770. (IF = 17.970)
  • Lee J, Robinson ME, Ma N, Artadji D, Ahmed MA, Xiao G, Sadras T, Deb G, Winchester J, Cosgun KN, Geng H, Chan LN, Kume K, Miettinen TP, Zhang Y, Nix MA, Klemm L, Chen CW, Chen J, Khairnar V, Wiita AP, Thomas-Tikhonenko A, Farzan M, Jung JU, Weinstock DM, Manalis SR, Diamond MS, Vaidehi N, Müschen M. IFITM3 functions as a PIP3 scaffold to amplify PI3K signalling in B cells. Nature. 2020;588(7838):491-497. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2884-6. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33149299. (IF = 49.962)
  • Cai SF, Chu SH, Goldberg AD, Parvin S, Koche RP, Glass JL, Stein EM, Tallman MS, Sen F, Famulare CA, Cusan M, Huang CH, Chen CW, Zou L, Cordner KB, DelGaudio NL, Durani V, Kini M, Rex M, Tian HS, Zuber J, Baslan T, Lowe SW, Rienhoff HY Jr, Letai A, Levine RL, Armstrong SA. Leukemia Cell of Origin Influences Apoptotic Priming and Sensitivity to LSD1 Inhibition. Cancer Discovery. 2020;10(10):1500-1513. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-19-1469. Epub 2020 Jun 30. PMID: 32606137; PMCID: PMC7584353. (IF = 39.397)
  • Chan LN, Murakami MA, Robinson ME, Caeser R, Sadras T, Lee J, Cosgun KN, Kume K, Khairnar V, Xiao G, Ahmed MA, Aghania E, Deb G, Hurtz C, Shojaee S, Hong C, Pölönen P, Nix MA, Chen Z, Chen CW, Chen J, Vogt A, Heinäniemi M, Lohi O, Wiita AP, Izraeli S, Geng H, Weinstock DM, Müschen M. Signalling input from divergent pathways subverts B cell transformation. Nature. 2020;583(7818):845-851. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2513-4. Epub 2020 Jul 22. PMID: 32699415; PMCID: PMC7394729. (IF = 49.962)
  • Liu Q, Garcia M, Wang S, Chen CW (corresponding). Therapeutic Target Discovery Using High-Throughput Genetic Screens in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Cells. 2020;9(8):1888. doi: 10.3390/cells9081888. PMID: 32806592; PMCID: PMC7465943. (IF = 6.600)
  • Dzama MM, Steiner M, Rausch J, Sasca D, Schönfeld J, Kunz K, Taubert MC, McGeehan GM, Chen CW, Mupo A, Hähnel P, Theobald M, Kindler T, Koche RP, Vassiliou GS, Armstrong SA, Kühn MWM. Synergistic targeting of FLT3 mutations in AML via combined menin-MLL and FLT3 inhibition. Blood. 2020;136(21):2442-2456. doi: 10.1182/blood.2020005037. PMID: 32589720. (IF = 22.113)
  • Shen C, Sheng Y, Zhu AC, Robinson S, Jiang X, Dong L, Chen H, Su R, Yin Z, Li W, Deng X, Chen Y, Hu YC, Weng H, Huang H, Prince E, Cogle CR, Sun M, Zhang B, Chen CW, Marcucci G, He C, Qian Z, Chen J. RNA Demethylase ALKBH5 Selectively Promotes Tumorigenesis and Cancer Stem Cell Self-Renewal in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Cell Stem Cell. 2020. 27:1-17. (IF = 24.633)
  • Qin H, Dong Z, Wang X, Cheng WA, Wen F, Xue W, Sun H, Walter M, Wei G, Smith DL, Sun X, Fei F, Xie J, Panagopoulou TI, Chen CW, Song JY, Aldoss I, Kayembe C, Sarno L, Müschen M, Inghirami GG, Forman SJ, Kwak LW. CAR T cells targeting BAFF-R can overcome CD19 antigen loss in B cell malignancies. Science Translational Medicine. 2019;11(511). (IF = 17.956)
  • Zhu Y, He X, Lin YC, Dong H, Zhang L, Chen X, Wang Z, Shen Y, Li M, Wang H, Sun J, Nguyen LX, Zhang H, Jiang W, Yang Y, Chen J, Müschen M, Chen CW, Konopleva MY, Sun W, Jin J, Carlesso N, Marcucci G, Luo Y, Li L. Targeting PRMT1-Mediated FLT3 Methylation Disrupts Maintenance of MLL-rearranged Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Blood. 2019. (IF = 22.113)
  • Hurtz C, Chan LN, Geng H, Ballabio E, Xiao G, Deb G, Khoury H, Chen CW, Armstrong SA, Chen J, Ernst P, Melnick A, Milne T, Müschen M. Rationale for targeting BCL6 in MLL- rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Genes Dev. 2019; 33(17-18):1265-1279. (IF = 11.361)
  • A.K.N. Chan, C.W. Chen (corresponding). Rewiring the Epigenetic Networks in MLL- Rearranged Leukemias: Epigenetic Dysregulation and Pharmacological Interventions. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2019; 7:81. (IF = 5.186)
  • He X, Zhu Y, Lin YC, Li M, Du J, Dong H, Sun J, Zhu L, Wang H, Ding Z, Zhang L, Zhang L, Zhao D, Wang Z, Wu H, Zhang H, Jiang W, Xu Y, Jin J, Shen Y, Perry J, Zhao X, Zhang B, Liu S, Xue SL, Shen B, Chen CW, Chen J, Khaled S, Kuo YH, Marcucci G, Luo Y, Li L. PRMT1- mediated FLT3 arginine methylation promotes maintenance of FLT3-ITD(+) acute myeloid leukemia. Blood. 2019; 134(6):548-560. (IF = 22.113)
  • T. Hoshii, P. Cifani, Z. Feng, C.H. Huang, R. Koche, C.W. Chen, C.D. Delaney, S.W. Lowe, A. Kentsis, S.A. Armstrong. A Non-catalytic Function of SETD1A Regulates Cyclin K and the DNA Damage Response. Cell. 2018; 172(5):1007-1021.e17 (IF = 41.582)
  • S.P. Wang, Z. Tang, C.W. Chen, M. Shimada, R.P. Koche, L.H. Wang, T. Nakadai, A. Chramiec, A.V. Krivtsov, S.A. Armstrong, R.G. Roeder. A UTX-MLL4-p300 Transcriptional Regulatory Network Coordinately Shapes Active Enhancer Landscapes for Eliciting Transcription. Molecular Cell. 2017; 67(2):308-321. (IF = 17.970)
  • D.G. Valerio, H. Xu, C.W. Chen, T. Hoshii, M.E. Eisold, C. Delaney, M. Cusan, A.J. Deshpande, C.H. Huang, A. Lujambio, Y.G. Zheng, J. Zuber, T.K. Pandita, S.W. Lowe, S.A. Armstrong. Histone Acetyltransferase Activity of MOF Is Required for MLL-AF9 Leukemogenesis. Cancer Research. 2017; 77(7):1753-1762. (IF = 12.701)
  • X. Wang, C.W. Chen, S.A. Armstrong. The Role of DOT1L in the Maintenance of Leukemia Gene Expression. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development. 2016; 36:68-72. (IF = 5.578)
  • S.C.W. Lee, H. Dvinge, E. Kim, H. Cho, J.B Micol, Y.R. Chung, B.H. Durham, A. Yoshimi, Y.J. Kim, M. Thomas, C. Lobry, C.W. Chen, A. Pastore, J. Taylor, X. Wang, A. Krivtsov, S.A. Armstrong, J. Palacino, S. Buonamici, P.G. Smith, R.K. Bradley, O. Abdel-Wahab. Modulation of Splicing Catalysis for Therapeutic Targeting of Leukemias with Spliceosomal Mutations. Nature Medicine. 2016; 22(6):672-8. (IF = 53.440)