Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

The Yu Chen Lab

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Research

Pictured: Yu Chen
Yu Chen, MD, PhD


Associate Professor

The major goal of my laboratory is to understand how critical transcription factors mediate prostate cancer oncogenesis. Prostate cancers uniquely harbor very few mutations in well-known driver oncogenes (e.g., RAS, BRAF, etc.). Instead, they are characterized by aberrations in transcription factors, including the androgen receptor (AR) and ETS family transcription factors. These oncogenic transcription factors regulate a transcriptional program that determines cellular lineage, specifies the responses to external stimuli, and contributes to the oncogenic cellular context in prostate cancer. Our long-term goal is to generate an integrative understanding of how transcription factors normally guide the prostate lineage determination and how their deregulation leads to cancer. In addition, using biochemistry and genetic screens, we are pursuing ways to target the activity of these transcription factors that can lead to drug discovery.

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The Chen Lab

Featured News

SU2C Dream Team: Revolutionary Treatment For Prostate Cancer

In the Lab
Stained pathology slides of a patient’s tumor (right) and of an organoid made from that tumor (left).
Five Fascinating Approaches to Cancer Science

In the Lab
Stained pathology slides of a patient’s tumor (right) and of an organoid made from that tumor (left).
Prostate Cancer Organoids Provide New Tool for Evaluating Therapies

Publications

Welsbie DS, Xu J, Chen Y, Borsu L, Scher HI, Rosen N, Sawyers CL. Histone deacetylases are required for androgen receptor function in hormone-sensitive and castrate-resistant prostate cancer. Cancer Res. 2009 Feb 1;69(3):958-66. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-2216. Epub 2009 Jan 27.

Tran C, Ouk S, Clegg NJ, Chen Y, Watson PA, Arora V, Wongvipat J, Smith-Jones PM, Yoo D, Kwon A, Wasielewska T, Welsbie D, Chen CD, Higano CS, Beer TM, Hung DT, Scher HI, Jung ME, Sawyers CL. Development of a second-generation antiandrogen for treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Science. 2009 May 8;324(5928):787-90. doi: 10.1126/science.1168175. Epub 2009 Apr 9.

Chi P, Chen Y, Zhang L, Guo X, Wongvipat J, Shamu T, Fletcher JA, Dewell S, Maki RG, Zheng D, Antonescu CR, Allis CD, Sawyers CL. ETV1 is a lineage survival factor that cooperates with KIT in gastrointestinal stromal tumours. Nature. 2010 Oct 14;467(7317):849-53. doi: 10.1038/nature09409. Epub 2010 Oct 3.

Yoshioka T, Otero J, Chen Y, Kim YM, Koutcher JA, Satagopan J, Reuter V, Carver B, de Stanchina E, Enomoto K, Greenberg NM, Scardino PT, Scher HI, Sawyers CL, Giancotti FG. β4 Integrin signaling induces expansion of prostate tumor progenitors. J Clin Invest. 2013 Feb 1;123(2):682-99. doi: 10.1172/JCI60720. Epub 2013 Jan 25.

Chen Y, Chi P, Rockowitz S, Iaquinta PJ, Shamu T, Shukla S, Gao D, Sirota I, Carver BS, Wongvipat J, Scher HI, Zheng D, Sawyers CL. ETS factors reprogram the androgen receptor cistrome and prime prostate tumorigenesis in response to PTEN loss. Nature Medicine. In press.

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People

Pictured: Yu Chen

Yu Chen, MD, PhD



Associate Professor

  • Physician-scientist Yu Chen studies the role of transcription factors that are critical for prostate cancer development.
  • MD, Weill Cornell Medical College
  • PhD, The Rockefeller University
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Physician profile

Members

Yeva Fishinevich

Research Technician

Emily Giff

Research Technician

Tyler Hitchman
Tyler Hitchman

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, NY

Dan Li
Dan Li

Research Fellow

Cheng Qian

Graduate Research Assistant

Shipra Shukla
Shipra Shukla

Senior Research Scientist

Naitao Wang
Naitao Wang

Research Scholar

Chen Khuan Wong

Research Fellow

Lab Alumni
Luendreo Barboza
Luendreo Barboza

Research Technician

Wei Di
Wei Di

Research Technician

Dong Gao
Dong Gao

Research Fellow

Youxin Guan
Youxin Guan

Research Technician

Samuel Kaffenberger
Samuel Kaffenberger

Research Fellow

Amanda Moore
Amanda Moore

Graduate Research Assistant

Shraddha Pancholi
Shraddha Pancholi

Research Secretary

Leili Ran, BS
Leili Ran

Investment Analyst at Superstring Capital, New York, NY

Shangqian Wang
Shangqian Wang

Graduate Research Assistant

Yu Zhan
Yu Zhan

Research Scholar

Sinan Zhu
Sinan Zhu

Research Fellow

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

  • Louis V. Gerstner Young Investigator Award, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2011)
  • Young Investigator Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation (2011)
  • Physician Research Training Award, Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program (2010)
  • Advanced Fellowship Award, Charles H. Revson Foundation (2009)
  • K08 Clinical Scientist Development Award, National Institutes of Health (2009)
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  • Clinical Scholars Award, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2008)
  • Young Investigator Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (2007)
  • Clinical Cancer Research Award, American Association for Cancer Research/Bristol-Myers Squibb (2007)

Open Positions

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