Thomas C. Chen, MD, PhD, is a tenured professor of neurosurgery and pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and a neurosurgeon at the USC Spine Center, part of Keck Medicine of USC. He also serves as a graduate student mentor and medical student summer research mentor at USC. He serves on the North American Spine Society Advocacy Committee as well as the Society of Neuro-oncology abstract committee. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Cancer Research and Society of Neuro-oncology.
Dr. Chen's clinical spine interests include spine tumors and spinal disc herniation, chronic back pain, spinal stenosis, microdiscectomy and lumbar fusion. He also has an active interest in research and his major areas of interest include antiangiogenesis, biological agents for spine fusion, brachytherapy for spine cancer, and novel gene delivery techniques.
Dr. Chen is an associate editor for the Journal of Neuro-oncology and serves on the editorial board of Orthopedics. He has served as a reviewer for a wide array of journals, including Neurosurgical Focus, International Journal of Cancer and Molecular Cancer and Therapeutics. During his career, Dr. Chen has won numerous awards, including the Stryker Award for best neuro-oncology research from the Congress Neurological Surgeons in 2009. He has also been awarded patents for novel technologies and techniques, such as a remotely activated piezoelectric pump for delivery of biological agents to the intervertebral disc and spine.
"The most satisfying aspect of being a spine surgeon is the ability to change the life of a patient who had previously been disabled from their spine disorder to becoming functional again," says Dr. Chen. "I went into the spine field because of my interest in neuro-oncology. Metastatic and primary spine cancers are often handled by spine surgeons who do not have expertise in neuro-oncology. I wanted to take my oncology expertise and apply it to spine cancer."
Dr. Chen earned his medical degree at University of California, San Francisco and completed his neurosurgical residency and PhD in tumor immunology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Additionally, he has completed a spine fellowship at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
More Articles on Spine Leaders:
Spine Surgeon Leader to Know: Dr. Thomas Errico of NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases
Spine Surgeon Leader to Know: Dr. Nader Dahdaleh of Northwestern Medicine
Spine Surgeon Leader to Know: Dr. Alan Moskowitz of Kansas Orthopaedic Center