Dr. Chen received his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University in the rigorous biomedical engineering program. While at Hopkins he performed cancer research in Michael Caligiuri’s laboratory at The Ohio State University. He then attended medical school at UT Southwestern, participating in research in the Wuelfing laboratory. After completing his pediatric residency at Children’s Medical Center, he began his clinical fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology, during which he joined the laboratory of James Amatruda. During his postdoctoral training in Dr. James Amatruda’s laboratory, he discovered novel mutations in Wilms tumor affecting microRNA processing enzymes. He then began collaborating with Dr. Joshua Mendell to study the effects of these mutations in vitro. Using a combination of computational, in vitro, and in vivo methods, he showed that the microRNA target gene PLAG1 contributes to Wilms tumor proliferation. This led to his appointment as Pediatrics Co-Leader of the UTSW Kidney Cancer Program. At a national level, he previously served on the COG Renal Tumor Biology Subcommittee. He currently serves as Biology Chair of the COG Rare Tumor Subcommittee, which encompasses DICER1-mutant tumors at any anatomic location.