Mike Y. Chen, M.D., Ph.D.
Bring your best every day and keep making it better.
A prolific researcher, talented physician and board-certified neurosurgeon, Mike Y. Chen, M.D., Ph.D., has been on City of Hope's team since 2007. Dr. Chen specializes in complex operations for the removal of brain and spine tumors. He also frequently treats benign and degenerative conditions of the spine for City of Hope patients.
As a contributor to the advancement of neurosurgery, Dr. Chen devises new surgical techniques, works with medical device companies to design new tools and teaches procedures to other surgeons.
Dr. Chen received his medical doctorate from Thomas Jefferson University. He furthered his training with an internship at Johns Hopkins University and a residency at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. Dr. Chen also completed a research fellowship in surgical neurology at the National Institutes of Health.
2013, Board Certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery
2011, Doctor of Philosophy, Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia,
Richmond1996, Doctor of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1994, Master of Science, Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
1990, Bachelor of Science, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania
Fellow, Hematology and Oncology, 2014-2017,
New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College,
New York
Intern and Resident, Department of Medicine, 2011-2014,
Los Angeles County Hospital+USC Medical Center,
Los Angeles, California
Intern and Resident, Department of Medicine, 2011-2014,
Los Angeles County Hospital+USC Medical Center,
Los Angeles, California
2015-present, Associate Professor, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, City of Hope, Duarte and Arcadia, California
2012-present, Director, Neurosurgical Oncology Fellowship Program
2007-2015, Assistant Professor, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, City of Hope, Duarte, California
2007-2015, Section Head, Malignant Brain Tumor Program, City of Hope, Duarte, California
2006, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Developing next generation therapies for the treatment of cancers that have metastasized to the central nervous system
Since 2007, Dr. Chen and his staff have mentored many students. Some of his recent interns and current staff are listed below.
Current Staff
- Yujun Wang, Ph.D., Staff Scientist
- Jing Li, M.S., Staff Scientist
- Yongshen Jia, M.D., Postdoctorate fellow
Previous Staff
- Gang Li, Ph.D.
- James Wang, Ph.D.
- Yufang Yin, Ph.D.
- Zhaoxia Zou, M.D.
Other Staff Members
Lab Research Associate: Amanda Nesbit
Amanda Nesbit recently graduated from California State University Bakersfield with her Bachelor of Science in chemistry, concentration in biochemistry and minor in biology. At City of Hope, she is currently working on the use of PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic fields) to increase the uptake of chemotherapy drugs.
Lab Research Intern: Philip Fedor
Philip Fedor is currently about to begin his sophomore year at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. He is a biology major with a pPre-med focus and plans on pursuing a career in sports medicine. In Dr. Chen’s lab, he is working with Amanda Nesbit to analyze the effects of PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic fields) on cell growth when combined with chemotherapy drugs and when used independently.
Lab Research Associate: Jenny Lin
Jenny Lin recently graduated UCLA with a B.A. in English and is currently applying to medical school. At City of Hope, she is gathering patient data for a retrospective chart review to further understanding of the influence of breast cancer receptor status, i.e. HER2, estrogen and/or progesterone, on metastatic spinal lesions. Furthermore, she studies the pathological fractures and epidural disease rates with receptor status and examines if the type of bony lesions, either lytic or blastic, will be the same in the spine versus other parts of the skeleton.
Moreover, she is also working to generate data to test the hypothesis of whether lung to brain metastases are resistant due to Polycomb/histone epigenetic mediated changes, by using triptolide to target the WNT/Polycomb pathway. Histone methylation has emerged as the central epigenetic change in the organization of eukaryotic chromatin, which effects cell proliferation, gene expression and regulation. She will be performing enzyme assays of metastatic lung to brain tissues, to detect levels of histone methylation with and without triptolide.
Lab Research Intern: Alisha Jain
Alisha Jain is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in human biology from University of California San Diego. She has extensive experience working in Dr. Chen’s lab at City of Hope since high school, and is studying the role of various polycomb proteins and Polycomb genes in epigenetic events affecting glioblastoma in order to better understand the origins of the disease and develop effective preventive and therapeutic interventions.
She and Sean Dewberry hypothesize that glioblastoma could employ an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)- like process to develop into a mesenchymal subtype and epigenetic factors playing a role in EMT in other tumor types could be candidate master regulators of mesenchymal differentiation and proliferation.
Lab Research Intern: Sean Dewberry
Sean Dewberry currently studies molecular and environmental biology at University of California Berkeley and will be starting junior year in fall 2015. In Dr. Chen's lab, he is working closely with Alisha Jain and under the guidance of Dr. Li and Dr. Wang. They are examining the role of polycomb proteins and their effect on glioblastomas. It is their hope to identify the origins of this type of tumor and develop possible treatments to combat it.
Jasmine Lin, student at Princeton University
Tats Fujii, student at Keck School of Medicine of USC
Byron Cheung, student at Cornell University
Carling Cheung, 4th year student at Commonwealth University Medical School
Janet Li
Chen Hsu
Erin Denny, predoctoral candidate, City of Hope
Angela Chang, predoctoral candidate
Daniel Angeles, student at University of Virginia Medical School
Jerry Li, student at University of California Davis
Kerin Higa, predoctoral candidate University of California San Diego
Lillian Mecum, student Cornell University
Russell Thompson, M.D./Ph.D. program at Washington University at St. Louis
Michael Haber
Eu Ann Liu, B.S University of California Irvine
Louis Lau, B.S University of California Berkeley
Mark Lew, student at Arizona State University
Margaret Early Trust Grant. Role of the Chromobox Protein CBX6 in the Mesenchymal Transition of Glioblastoma 2012. Principle Investigator
Biomechanical evaluation of dual vertebral cages in the thoracic spine. Investigator Initiated Research. Globus Medical Grant. 2012
Golden Axon Award for Leadership and Dedication. Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics. June 2012
Characterizing the progenitor cell subpopulation in cancellous bone. Nuvasive. Industry Sponsored grant: $560,000. September 2010.
Biomechanical assessment of thoracic and lumbar vertebral column reconstruction with bilateral expandable cages. Globus Medical Corporation. Investigator Initiated Research: $10,000. August 2010
Named by Pasadena Magazine as one of the top neurosurgeons in Los Angeles in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Biomechanical assessment of C2 vertebral column reconstruction with bilateral expandable cages. Globus Medical Corporation. Industry Sponsored Grant: $10,000. January 2010
Second place at second annual City of Hope Poster Session, “Collaboration: Synergy for Success.” The Use of Tisseel as a Delivery Vehicle for Genetically Engineered Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes. Zhaoxia Zou, M.D., Erin Denny, Christine Brown, Ph.D., Araceli Hamlett, James Wang, Ph.D., Yufang Yin, Mike Chen, M.D., Ph.D.
Pilot Study: Characterizing the progenitor cell subpopulation in cancellous bone Nuvasive. Industry Sponsored Grant: $160,000. February 2010
NASA Tech Brief Award for NTR 45433: Use of JPL Electronic Nose for Detection of Tumors. 2008
2007, NIH K 12 Grant for $500,000. The effect of stat3 inhibitors distributed using convection-enhanced delivery on cell death and chemoreistance in metastatic melanomas of the murine brain.
2003, Crutchfield, Gage and Thomson award for best resident presentation at the annual meeting of the Neurosurgical society of the Virginias
1999, Fellows Award for Research Excellence, National Institutes of Health
</br></br></br><strong>MEMBERSHIPS</strong><p></p>
American Association of Neurological Surgeons
Congress of Neurological Surgeons
Faculty - Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, City of Hope
International Neurosurgical Children’s Association
Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at Western University of Health Sciences
International Brain Mapping and Intra-operative Surgical Planning Society: Board of Directors
The Johns Hopkins Medical & Surgical Association
Los Angeles County Medical Association
California Medical Association
American Association for Cancer Research
Society for Neuro-Oncology
- Ashford JW, Gold JE, Huenergardt MA, Katz RBA, Strand SE, Bolanos J, Wheeler CJ, Perry G, Smith CJ, Steinman L, Chen MY, Wang JC, Ashford CB, Roth WT, Cheng JJ, Chao S, Jennings J, Sipple D, Yamamoto V, Kateb B, Earnest DL. MMR Vaccination: A Potential Strategy to Reduce Severity and Mortality of COVID-19 Illness. Am J Med. 2021 Feb;134(2):153-155. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.10.003. Epub 2020 Oct 23.Am J Med. 2021. PMID: 33198951
- Jia Y, Wang Y, Zhang C, Chen MY. Upregulated CBX8 Promotes Cancer Metastasis via the WNK2/MMP2 Pathway. Mol Ther Oncolytics. 2020 Oct 4;19:188-196. doi: 10.1016/j.omto.2020.09.012. eCollection 2020 Dec 16.Mol Ther Oncolytics. 2020. PMID: 33251331
- Ansari KI, Bhan A, Liu X, Chen MY, Jandial R. Astrocytic IGFBP2 and CHI3L1 in cerebrospinal fluid drive cortical metastasis of HER2+breast cancer. Clin Exp Metastasis. 2020 Jun;37(3):401-412. doi: 10.1007/s10585-020-10032-4. Epub 2020 Apr 11.Clin Exp Metastasis. 2020. PMID: 32279122
- Ammar A. Chaudhry, Naim S, Gul M, Chaudhry A, Chen MY, Jandial R, Badie B. Utility of Preoperative Blood-Oxygen-Level–Dependent Functional MR Imaging in Patients with a Central Nervous System Neoplasm. Radiol Clin N Am 57 (2019) 1189–1198
- Deng H, Guan X, Gong L, Zeng J, Zhang H, Chen MY, Li G. CBX6 is negatively regulated by EZH2 and plays a potential tumor suppressor role in breast cancer Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 197 (2019)
- Chaudhry A, Badie B, Jandial R, Chen MY, Mike K, Ron RS. Utility of Functional MRI and 3D Tractography in presurgical planning in patients with glioblastoma.
- Ansari SR, Jandial Z, Wu X, Liu X, Chen MY, Ansari KI. Synergistic inhibition of SCR1- and ERBB2-driven brain metastatic breast cancer cells. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2019;5:20
- Jandial R, Neman J, Lim PP, Tamae D, Kowolik CM, Wuenschell GE, Shuck SC, Ciminera AK, De Jesus LR, Ouyang C, Chen MY, Termini J. Inhibition of GLO1 in Glioblastoma Multiforme Increases DNA-AGEs, Stimulates RAGE Expression, and Inhibits Brain Tumor Growth in Orthotopic Mouse Models. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(2), 406; doi:10.3390/ijms19020406.
- Jandial R, Cecilia C, Levy D, Chen MY, Ansari KI. Astrocyte-induced Reelin expression drives proliferation of Her2+ breast cancer metastases. Clinical & Experimental Metastasis. 2017 Feb;34(2):185-196. doi: 10.1007/s10585-017-9839-9. Impact factor 3.45
- Chen MY, Lin J, Graf MR, Holt SE, Chan DC, Clark AJ, VanMeter TE, Chidambaram A, Fillmore HL, Broaddus DC. Differential Cell Death Effects in Glioblastoma after Drug- Induced DNA Damage Laboratory Investigation. J Neurosurg 2016 5:6
- Brown CE, Alizadeh D, Starr R, Weng L, Wagner JR, Naranjo A, Ostberg JR, Blanchard MS, Kilpatrick J, Simpson J, Kurien A, Priceman SJ, Wang X, Harshbarger TL, D’Apuzzo M, Ressler JA, Jensen MC, Barish ME, Chen MY, Portnow J, Forman SJ, Badie B. Regression of Glioblastoma after Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy. N Engl J Med 2016; 375:2561-2569
- Portnow J, Synold TW, Badie B, Tirughana R, Lacey SF, D’Apuzzo M, Metz MZ, Najbauer J, Bedell V, Tien Vo, Gutova M, Frankel P, Chen MY, Aboody KS. Neural Stem Cell-Based Anti-Cancer Gene Therapy: A First-in-Human Study in Recurrent High Grade Glioma Patients. Clinical Cancer Research 2016 Dec 15 epub ahead of print
- Zou Z, Yin Y, Hsu L, Lin J, Yang F, Jove R, Jandial R, Li G, Chen MY. Convection-Enhanced Delivery of Sorafenib Suppresses Tumor Progression in a Murine Model of Brain Melanoma through the Inhibition of Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3. Journal of Neurosurgery. 2016: 124(5), 1310-8.
- Dadwal S, Thompson R, Jandial R, Tegtmeier B, *Chen MY. Chronic Leptomeningitis and Spinal Intradural Mass Secondary to Alternaria Infection in a Patient with Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt. Case Reports in Infectious Diseases, Volume 2016 (2016)
- Lin J, Goldstein L, Nesbit A, Chen MY. Influence of Hormone Receptor Status on Spinal Metastatic Lesions in Breast Cancer Patients. World Neurosurgery. Epub. 2015 S1878-8750(15)00967-5. 2016 Jan:85:42-8 PMID: 26260940
- Lin J, Chen CC, Nesbit A, Wang Y, Chen MY. Molecular Physiology of G-CIMP+ Glioblastomas: Therapeutic Implications. Journal of Gene Therapy. 2015 June: 2(1)
- Lin J, Jandial R, Nesbit A, Badie B, Chen MY. Current and Emerging Treatment Approaches for Brain Metastases. Oncology. April 2015
- Jandial R, Neman J, Chen MY. Therapeutic disruption of the Blood Brain Barrier in Metastasis. Neurosurgery. 2014 April; 74 (4)
- Portnow J, Badie B, Liu X, Frankel P, Mi S, Chen MY, Synold TW. Changes in Intracerebral Cytokine Levels after Craniotomy and In Response to Treatment with Temsirolimus in Patients with Brain Tumors: A Pilot Study Assessing Microdialysis as a Clinical Research Tool. J Neurooncol. 2014 May;118(1):169-77.
- Li G, Warden C, Zou Z, Neman J, Jain A, Jandial R, Chen MY. Altered expression of Polycomb group genes in glioblastoma multiforme. PlosOne 2013 8(11):e80980
- Jandial R, Duenas MJ, Chen MY. Neuroanatomy changes with repetitive mild head injury in athletes. Neurosurgery. 2013 Jun;72(6):N20
- Jandial R, Kelly B, Chen MY. Posterior-only approach for lumbar vertebral column resection and expandable cage reconstruction for spinal metastases Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, Vol. 19, No. 1, Jul 2013: 27-33. cover
- Neman J, Duenas VJ, Kowolik CM, Choy C, Waliany S, Anderson A, Chen B, Chen MY, Jandial R. Co-evolution of breast to brain metastatic and neural progenitor cells. Clinical Experimental Cancer Metastasis. 2013 Aug;30(6):753-68
- Cabanne MB, Ma QD, Jandial R, Siddiqi J, Chen MY. Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C in Patients with Meningiomas and Glioblastoma Multiforme. Oncology Letters 2013 Mar;5(3):783-786. Epub 2013 Jan
- Jandial R, Kelly B, Chen MY. Axial Spondylectomy and Circumferential Reconstruction via a Posterior Approach. Neurosurgery. 2013 Feb;72(2):300-8 (cover on Operative Neurosurgery March 2013)
- Neman J, Hambrecht A, Cadry C, Goodarzi A, Youssefzadeh J, Chen M Y, Jandial R. Clinical efficacy of stem cell mediated osteogenesis and bioceramics for bone tissue engineering. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2012;760:174-87.
- Jandial R, Chen M Y. Modified Lateral Extracavitary Approach for Vertebral Column Resection and Expandable Cage Reconstruction of Thoracic Spinal Metastases. Surg Neurol Int. 2012;3:136.
- Chen MY, Jandial R. Mini-open Transpedicular Lumbar Vertebrectomy Reconstructed with Double Cages and Short segment Fixation. Surgical Neurology International 2012 supplement 5(3):S362-5
- Nguyen LH, Duenas V, Chen MY, Jandial R. Progenitor cells: role and usage in bone tissue engineering approaches for spinal fusion. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2012;760:188-210.
- Neman J., Duenas V J., Kowolik C., Hambrecht A., *Jandial R., *Chen MY. Characterization of the Native Progenitor Population in Cellular Bone Allografts. * co-senior authors. Spine J. 2013 Feb;13(2):162-74
- Zou Z, Denny E, Brown C, Jensen M, Li G, Fujii T, Neman J, Jandial R, Chen MY. Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Trafficking and Survival in an Augmented Fibrin Matrix Carrier. PLoS ONE April 2012 7(4): e34652 .
- Jandial R, Nguyen LH, Chen MY. Surface topography can be used to instruct stem cell fate. Neurosurgery Feb 2012;70(2):N14-6.
- Jandial R, Chen MY, Ciacci J. HIF-1α potentiates mesenchymal stem cell mediated osteogenesis by coupling to angiogenesis. Neurosurgery. October 2011;69(4) N13-N14
- Jandial R, Waters DJ, Chen MY. Cancer stem cells can arise from differentiated neoplastic cells. Neurosurgery August 2011; 69(2): N22-N22
- Chen MY, Clark A, Chan D, Ware J, Holt S, Chidambaram A, Fillmore H, Broaddus W. Wilms’ Tumor 1 Silencing Decreases the Viability and Chemoresistance of Glioblastoma cells in vitro: A potential role for IGF-1R de-repression. J. Neuro-oncology 2011 May;103:87-102.
- Gutova M, Najbauer J, Chen MY, Potter P, Kim S, Aboody K. Therapeutic targeting of melanoma cells using neural stem cells expressing carboxylesterase, a CPT-11 activating enzyme. Current Stem Cell Research & Therapy. 2010; 6, 273-276
- Chen MY, Jandial R. Environmental cues for mesenchymal stem cell fate determination. Neurosurgery 2010;67(4) N20 39. Mike Chen, Rahul Jandial. The Practical Horizon for Robotic Neurosurgery. Neurosurgery 2009: 65(3) pN12
- Portnow J, Badie B, Chen MY, Liu A, Blanchard S, Synold TW. The Neuropharmacokinetics of Temozolomide in Patients with Resectable Brain Tumors: potential Implications for the current approach to chemoradiation. Clinical Cancer Research. 2009;15(22) 7092-8
- Kateb B, Ryan MA, Homer ML, Lara LM, Yin Y, Higa K, Chen MY. Sniffing Out Cancer Using the JPL Electronic Nose: A Novel Approach to Detection and Differentiation of Brain Cancer. Neuroimage 2009 Aug;47 Suppl 2:T5-9.
- Clark A, Ware JL, Chen MY, Graf MR, Van Meter TE, DosSantos WG, Fillmore H, Broaddus WC. Effect of WT1 gene silencing on the tumorigenicity of human glioblastoma cells. Journal of Neurosurgery 2009(Apr 24)
- Yang F, Van Meter TE, Buettner R, Hedvat M, Liang W, Kowolik C, Mepani N, Mirosevich J, Nam S, Chen MY, Tye G, Kirschbaum M, Jove R. Sorafenib inhibits STAT3 resulting in growth arrest and apoptosis of medulloblastomas. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2008; 7(11), 3519-3526
- Higa K, Kateb B, Wang J, Yin Y, Ryan MA, Chen MY. Using Electronic Noses to Detect Tumors During Neurosurgery. NASA Tech Briefs: Engineering Solutions for Design & Manufacturing 2008:32(8), 54
- Clark AJ, Chan DC, Chen MY, Fillmore H, Dos Santos WG, Van Meter TE, Graf MR, Broaddus WC. Down-regulation of Wilms’ tumor 1 expression in human glioblastoma cells increases radiosensitivity independently of p53 mechanism. J. Neuroonc 2007; 83, 163-172
- Clark AJ, Dos Santos WG, Jessica McCready, Chen MY, Van Meter TE, Ware JL, Wolber SB, Helen Fillmore, Broaddus WC. Wilms’ tumor 1 expression in malignant gliomas and correlation of +KTS isoforms with p53 status. Journal of Neurosurgery 2007;107, 586-592
- Chen MY. Book Review of Advances and Technical Standards in Neurosurgery Vol. 31. Journal of Neurosurgery. (September 2006)
- Chen MY, Alan Hoffer, Morrison PF, Hamilton JF, Hughes J, Schlageter KS, Jeongwu Lee, Brandon R. Kelly, Edward H. Oldfield. Surface Properties, more than Size, Limit Convective Distribution of Viral-Sized Particles and Viruses in the CNS. Journal of Neurosurgery 2005 Aug;103(2):311-9.
- Oldfield EH, Andrew Bennett III, Chen MY, John L Doppman. Successful management of spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas undetected by arteriography. Journal of Neurosurgery. 2002 Mar;96(2 Suppl):220-9.
- Kouri JG, Chen MY, Watson JC, Oldfield EH. Resection of suprasellar tumors using a modified transsphenoidal approach. Journal of Neurosurgery. 2000 Jun;92(6):1028-35
- Hamilton JF, Morrison PF, Chen MY, Judith Harvey-White, Pernaute RS, Oldfield EH, Krys Bankiewicz. Heparin Co-infusion during Convection-Enhanced Delivery (CED) increases the distribution of glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) ligand family in rat striatum and enhances the pharmacological activity of Neurturin. Experimental Neurology. 2001 Mar;168(1):155-61.
- Chen MY, Chew E, Reynolds J, Chao DL, Oldfield EH. Metastatic brainstem pheochromocytoma in a patient with von Hippel-Lindau disease. Case illustration. Journal of Neurosurgery. 2001 Jan;94(1):138.
- Chen MY, Lonser RR, Morrison PF, Governale LS, Oldfield EH. Variables affecting convection-enhanced delivery to the striatum: A systematic examination of rate of infusion, cannula size, infusate concentration, and tissue-cannula sealing time. Journal of Neurosurgery 1999. 90(2):315-320
- Siddiqi NA, Ide T, Chen MY, Akamatsu N. A computer-aided walking rehabilitation robot. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 1994, 73(3):212-216.