Clark C. Chen, MD, PhD

Clark C. Chen

420 Delaware St SE
Mayo D429, MMC 96
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States

Dr. Chen is an internationally recognized brain tumor researcher and surgeon, with a dedicated interest in understanding how glioblastomas acquire resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. He is an NIH RO1-funded investigator whose research focuses on developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for brain tumor patients. He is also a leader in the study of DNA repair and gene therapy in brain tumors.

The recipient of several highly competitive research awards, Dr. Chen has won the Damon Runyon Fellowship Award, the Sidney Kimmel Scholar Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Career Award in Medical Sciences, the Sontag Foundation Distinguished Scientist Award, the Doris Duke Foundation Clinical Scientist Award, and the Forbeck Scholar Award. His laboratory is housed in the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center.

In 2016, Dr. Chen received the Presidential Award of Achievement from the President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou. The award is given annually by the Taiwanese government to individuals of Taiwanese heritage who have made exceptional contributions to their profession.

In the Media

February 2020 Minnesota PhysicianGlioblastoma: Activating an immune response

12-4-19: Minnesota Daily: New campus MRI machine to expand surgery capability

11-20-19: 

10-4-19: The “Goldilocks” Principle for Curing Brain Cancer

7-24-19:

6-27-19: New drug helps surgeons spot brain tumors by turning them pink

1-27-19: Minnesota-developed NeuroBlate device saves brain cancer patients. But what's next?

12-3-18: U Doctor Examining How Laser Brain Surgery Affects Peoples’ Lives

11-7-18: U of M begins trial for new brain cancer treatment

8-24-18: University of Minnesota Dr. on why McCain likely stopped his cancer treatment

8-24-18: High-profile glioblastoma deaths may be no coincidence

5-29-18: Doctor, patient reunited years after lifesaving surgery

1-8-18: Breakthrough Surgery Uses Laser To Remove Minnesota Man’s Brain Tumor

Education

MD, Harvard Medical School, 2001

Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, 2002-2007

Post-doctoral Fellow, Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 2006

Clinical Fellow, Radiosurgery, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 2009

Clinical Fellow, Stereotactic Neurosurgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 2009

PhD, Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 1999

MS, Epidemiology, Columbia University, 1993

BS, Stanford University, 1992

Expand all

Summary

Awards & Recognition

  • 2016 – Presidential Achievement Award, Taiwanese government
  • 2015 – Visiting Professor Peking Union Medical Center
  • 2015 – Leskell Radiosurgery Award, American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • 2014 – Rady School of Management, Executive Leadership
  • 2014 – Clinical Investigator Award, Society of Neuro-Oncology
  • 2013 – Society of Neuro-Oncology Young Investigator, Society of Neuro-Oncology

Professional Associations

  • American Association of Neurological Surgeons
  • Congress of Neurological Surgeons
  • American Association for Cancer Research
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Society of Neuro-Oncology
  • International Brain Mapping and Intraoperative Surgical Planning Society
  • American Society for Radiation Oncology

Research

Research Summary/Interests

Dr. Chen is a nationally recognized brain tumor researcher and surgeon, with a dedicated interest in understanding how glioblastomas acquire resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. He is an NIH RO1-funded investigator with research focused on developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for brain tumor patients. He is also a leader in the study of DNA repair and gene therapy in brain tumors.

Research Funding Grants

  • 2015-17: CSF and plasma extracellular vesicle (EV) miRNA as a biomarker platform for glioblastoma diagnostics, Accelerated Brain Cancer Cure, PI. The goal of this project is to establish a miRNA signature in CSF and plasma to facilitate “liquid biopsy” in glioblastoma patients.
  • 2015-17: Minimally invasive glioblastoma biomarkers, International S&T Cooperation Program of China, 2014DFA31470, PI. The goal of this project is to develop minimally invasive biomarkers for glioblastoma patients.
  • 2014-17: Minimally invasive biomarker development, Department of Defense W81XWH-14-2-0192, Multi-PI, The goal of the project is to develop novel biomarkers platforms for cancer.
  • 2016-19: exRNA biomarkers for human glioma, NIH 4UH3TR000931-03, Co-PI. The goal of this project is to develop minimally invasive exRNA biomarkers for detection of human glioma.
  • 2016-21: Targeting mechanisms of acquired temozolomide resistance in glioblastoma, NIH 1RO1NS097649-01, PI. The goal of this project is to understand mechanisms underlying temozolomide resistance in glioblastoma and to develop therapeutic approaches targeting these mechanisms
  • 2017-19: Single-cell epigenetic profiling of glioblastoma, Celgene, Multi-PI. The goal of this project is to provide single-cell epigenetic profiling of the various cell populations in clinical glioblastoma specimens.

(This is a partial list; for more information, see Dr. Chen's CV)

Publications

Peer-reviewed Publications

  1. Alattar AA, Bartk J, Chiang VL, Sloan A, Ahluwalia A, Barnett G, Chen CC. Stereotactic Laser Ablation as Treatment for Brain Metastases Recurring after Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A Systematic Literature Review. World Neurosurgery 2019, S1878-8750 (19): 31195-7.
  2. Ammirati M, Nahed BV, Andrews D, Chen CC, Olson JJ. Congress of Neurological Surgeons systematic review and evidence-based guidelines on treatment options for adults with multiple metastatic brain tumor. Neurosurgery 2019, 84(3): E180-2.
  3. Rennert RC, Tringale K, Steinberg JA, Warnke P, Konety I, Sand LA, Karanjia N, Tummala R, Chen CC. Surgical management of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: insights from randomized controlled trials. Neurosurgery Review 2019, Epub.
  4. Zhang J, Wang J, Marzese DM, Wnag X, Yang Z, Li C, Zhang H, Zhang J, Chen CC, Kelly DF, Hua W, Hoon DSB, Mao Y. B7H3 regulates differentiation and serves as a potential biomarker and theranostic target for human glioblastoma. Laboratory Investigation 2019, 99:1117-29.
  5. R Banik, Chen CC. Spinal epidural hematoma following interlaminar epidural steroid injection. Anesthesiology 2019, 131(6): 1342-3.
  6. Lews J, Alattar AA, Akers J, Carter BS, Heller M, Chen CC. A pilot proof-of-principle analysis demonstrating dielectrophoresis (DEP) as a glioblastoma biomarker platform. Scientific Report 2019, 9(1): 10279.
  7. Wang J, C Huang, OH Escheagaray, Amirfakhri S, Blair SL, Trogler WC, Kummel AC, Chen CC. Microshell Enhanced Acoustic Adjuvants for Immunotherapy in Glioblastoma. Advanced Therapeutics 2019, Epub.
  8. Ricard JA, Cramer S, Charles R, Tommee CG, Le A, Bell WR, Chen CC, Flanagan ME. Infratentorial glioblastoma metastasis to bone. World Neurosurgery 2019, 131:90-4.
  9. Bartek J, Alattar AA, Dhawan S, Ma J, Koga T, Nakaji P, Dusenbery KE, Chen CC. Receipt of brachytherapy is an independent predictor of survival in glioblastoma in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Journal of Neuro-Oncology 2019, 145(1): 75-83.

(This is a list of Dr. Chen's most recent publications)

Chapters, Monographs and Editorials

  • Chen CC, Depp C, Wilson B, Bartek J, Carter BS. A pilot study of physician personal preferences for treatment of glioblastoma. Acta Neurochir. 158(10): 1933
  • Hirshman BR, Kras RT, Akers JC, Carter BS, Chen CC. Extracellular vesicles in molecular diagnostics: an overview with a focus on CNS diseases. In: Makowski G, editor: Advances in Clinical Chemistry, Oxford: Elsevier (in press)
  • Patel KS, Chapman PH, Bussiere M, Loeffler JS, Chen CC. Applications of Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Neuro-Oncology. In: Newton HB, eds. Handbook of Neuro-Oncology Neuro-Imaging, Second Edition. New York: Academic Press. (in press) 
  • Patel KS, Chen CC. Role of biopsies in the management of gliomas. In Chernov MF, editor: Contemporary Management of Intracranial Gliomas. Krager. (in press)
  • Chen CC. interview “MRI-guided brain biopsy.” Practical Neurology, July/August 2014, 31-2
  • Chang DC, Marcus L, Chen CC, Carter BS. Response “Incidence and predictors of 30-day readmission for patients discharged home after craniotomy for malignant supratentorial tumors in California” Journal of Neurosurgery, 2014
  • Chen CC. comments “Stereotactic radiosurgery for patients with multiple brain metastases (JLGK0901): a multi-institutional prospective observational study.” Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Neurosurgery Watch, 2013
  • Santiago-Dieppa DR, Gonda DD, Cheung VJ, Steinberg JA, Carter BS, Chen CC. Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) as a platform for glioma therapeutic development. In Chernov MF, editor: Contemporary Management of Intracranial Gliomas. Krager. (in press)
  • Chen CC. comments “Net Clinical Bene?t Analysis of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0525: A Phase III Trial Comparing Conventional Adjuvant Temozolomide With Dose Intensive Temozolomide in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma.” Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Neurosurgery Watch, 2013
  • Chen CC. comments “Dose-Dense Temozolomide for Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma: A Randomized Phase III Clinical Trial.” Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Neurosurgery Watch, 2013.

(This is a partial list of Dr. Chen's Chapters, Monographs and Editorials)

National Invited Lectures/Presentations

2019

  • Invited lecture, “Immuno-stimulation through surgically administered mechanical high intensity focused ultrasound”, 2019 Society of Neuro-oncology Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ
  • Invited lecture, “Interim results of a phase II multi-center study of oncolytic adenovirus DNX-2401 with pembrolizumab for recurrent glioblastoma; CAPTIVE study (KEYNOTE-192), 2019 Society of Neuro-oncology Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ
  • Invited lecture, “Clinical Application of GammaTile in Neuro-Oncology: Initial experience”, 2019 Society of Neuro-oncology Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ
  • Invited lecture, “Interim Results of CAPTIVE study”, DNATrix Scientific Advisory Board Meeting, Phoenix, AZ
  • Invited lecture, “Subgroup analysis of TocaV results”, Tocagen Scientific Advisory Board Meeting, Phoenix, AZ
  • Invited panelist, “Multi-disciplinary brain tumor board”, Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL

2017

  • Invited lecture, “Surface imaging guided (SIG) radiosurgery for treatment of benign skull base tumors”, Varian Seminar on Radiosurgery, Portland, Oregon
  • Invited lecture, “Stereotactic laser ablation as treatment for brain metastases that recur after stereotactic radiosurgery: value of multi-institutional collaborations”, Neuroblate Network Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida
  • Invited lecture, “Radiographic parameterization of sub-ventricular zone distance reveals associations with survival and gene expression in glioblastoma”, American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California
  • Invited lecture, “Microglia influence glioblastoma survival”, Sontag Foundation Retreat, Jacksonville, Florida
  • Invited lecture, “Laser thermal ablation of cerebral metastasis”, Neuroblate Network Educational Session, Orlando, Florida
  • Invited lecture, “Inhibition of microglial PI3K? suppresses glioblastoma tumorigenicity by disrupting IL11-STAT3-MYC signaling”, Translational Oncology Symposium, La Jolla, California
  • Invited lecture, “Glioblastoma subtype as a biomarker platform for therapeutic response”, Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT) 14th Annual Conference, Los Angeles, California
  • Invited lecture, “Evolving roles of stereotaxis in neuro-oncology”, Grand Round, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Invited lecture, “Curing the incurable”, Peyton Society of Neurological Surgeons, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Invited lecture, “Clinical applications of laser thermal ablation in the treatment of brain metastasis”, Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT) 14th Annual Conference, Los Angeles, California
  • Invited lecture, “Ablation of cerebral metastasis: a literature review”, Neuroblate Network Educational Session, Orlando, Florida
  • Invited lecture, “A cerebrospinal fluid microRNA signature as biomarker for glioblastoma”, Global Technology Community Sixth Annual Biomarker Seminar, La Jolla, California

2016

  • Keynote lecture, “MRI guided neurosurgery”, Association of Surgical Technologist Annual Meeting, San Diego, California
  • Invited Speaker, “SRS for oligometastases & repeat oligometastases with OSMS tracking at UCSD”, the Radiation Society Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida
  • Invited presentation, “Comparative Prognostic Value of the Cumulative Intracranial Tumor Volume (CITV) and Score Index for Radiosurgery (SIR) in Brain Metastasis”, Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting, San Diego, California
  • Invited presentation, “A functional screen identifies miRs that induce radio-resistance in glioblastomas”, Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting, San Diego, California
  • Invited lecture, “Value of surgical resection in the management of glial tumors”, Department of Neurosurgery, University of California, Irvine, California
  • Invited lecture, “The Future of Departments of Neurosurgery in Academic Medical Centers”, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Invited lecture, “The benefit of gross total resection across glioma subtypes: a comparison of grade II/III/IV gliomas in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Database”, AANS/CNS Tumor Section Satellite Symposium, San Diego, California
  • Invited lecture, “Superior prognostic value of cumulative intracranial tumor volume (CITV) relative to largest intracranial tumor volume (LITV) for stereotactic radiosurgery treated brain metastasis patients”, Society of Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Invited lecture, “Stereotactic laser ablation (SLA) as treatment for brain metastases that recur after stereotactic radiosurgery: a multi-institutional experience”, Society of Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Invited lecture, “Principles of neuro-navigation”, Senior Neurosurgery Society Junior Resident Course, University of California, San Diego, California
  • Invited lecture, “Optimal radiosurgery dose for treatment of melanoma and renal cell carcinoma metastases”, Society of Neuro-Oncology 2016 Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Invited lecture, “Molecular understanding of glioblastoma Magnetic Resonance Imaging”, Sontag Foundation, Palm Springs, California
  • Invited lecture, “Modulation of glioblastoma tumorigenicity by tumor microenvironment”, CNS Anticancer Drug Discovery and Development, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Invited lecture, “microRNA inhibition of endothelial DNA ANGI-09 repair capacity as a glioblastoma therapeutic strategy”, Society of Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Invited lecture, “microRNA inhibition of endothelial DNA ANGI-09 repair capacity as a glioblastoma therapeutic strategy”, Society of Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Invited lecture, “Management of cerebral metastasis,” Congress of Neurological Surgeon Oral Board Review, San Diego, California
  • Invited lecture, “Extracellular vesicles as glioblastoma biomarkers”, CDW Seminar on Exosome Biology, San Diego, California
  • Invited lecture, “Emerging technologies monitoring for recurrence/progression”, AANS/CNS Tumor Section Satellite Symposium, San Diego, California
  • Invited lecture, “Dynamic Epigenetic Regulation of Glioblastoma Tumorigenicity through LSD1 Modulation of MYC Expression”, Nuclear Reprogramming and the Cancer Genome, San Diego, California
  • Invited lecture, “DNA repair in glioma”, Society of Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, Arizona
  • Invited lecture, “Diagnostic accuracy of PET, SPECT, and Arterial Spin-Labeling in differentiating tumor recurrence from necrosis in cerebral metastasis after stereotactic radiosurgery”, AANS/CNS Tumor Section Satellite Symposium, San Diego, California
  • Invited lecture, “CSF biomarkers for glioblastoma tumor burden”, Select Biosciences 3rd Annual Liquid Biopsies and Minimally-Invasive Diagnostics Conference, San Diego, California
  • Invited lecture, “Clinical translation of EV based biomarkers: consideration for multi-platform integration”, American Society for Exosomes and Microvesicles, Annual Meeting, Asilomar, California 
  • Invited lecture, “Cerebrospinal fluid microRNA as a glioblastoma biomarker platform”, Circulating Biomarker World Congress, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Invited lecture, “Case review in laser thermal ablation”, Neuroblate Network Meeting, Orlando, Florida
  • Invited lecture, "A cerebrospinal fluid microRNA signature for glioblastoma detection”, AANS/CNS Tumor Section Satellite Symposium, San Diego, California

(For information about additional national presentations/, see Dr. Chen's CV)

International Invited Lectures/Presentations

2017

  • Invited lecture, “The role of metastasis number in the diagnosis specific graded prognostic assessment (ds-GPA) for lung, renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and melanoma”, International Society for Radiosurgery, Annual Meeting, Montreux, Switzerland
  • Invited lecture, “Survival benefit associated with Gross Total Resection (GTR) in oligodendrogliomas and astrocytomas: a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) based analysis”, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Invited lecture, “Surface imaging guided (SIG) radiosurgery for treatment of benign skull base tumors”, International Society for Radiosurgery, Annual Meeting, Montreux, Switzerland
  • Invited lecture, “Single cell analysis revealed cell-to-cell variations in physiologic state influence EV secretion”, International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada
  • Invited lecture, “Radiosurgery for Brain Metastasis”, International Society for Radiosurgery, 2017 Annual Meeting, Montreux, Switzerland
  • Invited lecture, “Pitfalls in surgical treatment of pituitary adenomas“, Beijing Congress of Pituitary Adenoma, Beijing, China
  • Invited lecture, “PI-3K? inhibition suppresses glioblastoma tumorigenicity through disruption of an IL11-STAT3-MYC signaling axis between microglia and glioblastoma”, World Federation of Neuro-Oncology Societies, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Invited lecture, “In vivo characterization of EV miRNA secretion into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by glioblastoma”, International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) 2017 Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada
  • Invited lecture, “Improving the prognostic value of disease specific graded prognostic assessment (ds-GPA) model for renal cell carcinoma by incorporation of cumulative intracranial tumor volume”, International Society for Radiosurgery, Annual Meeting, Montreux, Switzerland
  • Invited lecture, “Improving the prognostic value of disease specific graded prognostic assessment (ds-GPA) model for melanoma by incorporation of cumulative intracranial tumor volume”, International Society for Radiosurgery, 2017 Annual Meeting, Montreux, Switzerland

2016

  • Invited lecture, “Value of gross total resection in glial tumors”, Chi-Mei Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan
  • Invited lecture, “TMZ-induce miR-181d degradation: Implications on glioblastoma intra-tumoral heterogeneity and evolution of therapeutic resistance”, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
  • Invited lecture, “Survival patterns of patients with cerebral metastases who underwent multiple rounds of stereotactic radiosurgery SRS”, Melanoma Institute of Australia, Australia
  • Invited lecture, “Prognostic importance of cumulative intracranial tumor volume in brain metastasis patients treated with stereotactic radiosurgery”, Department of Neurosurgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden
  • Invited lecture, “Precision surgery in Neuro-Oncology”, 301 PLA Army Hospital, Beijing, China
  • Invited lecture, “Precision medicine: paradigm in neuro-oncology”, 2016 Chinese Glioma Cooperative Group (CGCG) Annual Meeting, Lanzhou, China
  • Invited lecture, “Pearls and pitfall of anterior skull base surgery”, Sichuan Society of Skull base Surgery, 2016 Annual Meeting, Chengdu, China
  • Invited lecture, “Novel applications of stereotactic neurosurgery in neuro-oncology”, School of Young Scientists, Moscow Russia
  • Invited lecture, “Novel ‘liquid biopsy’ platforms for glioblastoma“, Biomarker India 2016, Bengaluru, India
  • Invited lecture, “Molecular basis of long-term survivorship in glioblastoma”, Tiantan Medical Center, Beijing, China
  • Invited lecture, “Microglia modulation of glioblastoma through MYC modulation“, The Centre for Cancer Research and Cell biology, Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom
  • Invited lecture, “MGMT-regulating miRNA: A lesson in precision medicine”, 301 PLA Army Hospital, Beijing, China
  • Invited lecture, “Management patterns of patients with cerebral metastases who underwent multiple stereotactic radiosurgeries”, BrainLab Radiosurgery Symposium, Sydney, Australia
  • Invited lecture, “Laser thermal ablation in neuro-oncology”, 2016 Annual Chinese Neurosurgery Meeting, Lanzhou, China
  • Invited lecture, “Isocitrate Dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations: opportunities for personalizing oncologic care of glioblastoma patients”, Lihpao Life Science Corp, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Invited lecture, “Gross total resection in neuro-oncology”, National Taipei University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Invited lecture, “Glioblastoma subtype: diagnostic and therapeutic implications”, National Taipei University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Invited lecture, “Evolution toward RapidArc® stereotactic radiosurgery: A neurosurgical perspective”, Australian Oncology Summit, Auckland, New Zealand
  • Invited lecture, “Epigenetic MYC modulation and glioblastoma tumorigenicity”, Heidelberger Symposium, Moscow, Russia
  • Invited lecture, “Deriving biologic insights into glioblastomas from neuro-imaging”, Annual Nanjing Neurosurgery Meeting, Nanjing, China
  • Invited lecture, “Cumulative intracranial tumor volume as prognostic factor for treatment of brain metastasis”, 7th meeting of the Asian Gamma Knife Academy, Honolulu, Hawaii
  • Invited lecture, “Cumulative Intracranial Tumor Volume (CITV) in Radiosurgery”, Taipei Veteran General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Invited lecture, “Cerebrospinal fluid microRNA (CSF miRNA) signature as a biomarker for glioblastoma detection”, International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) Annual Meeting, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Invited lecture, “Advanced stereotaxis in neuro-surgical oncology”, Department of Neurosurgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden

(For information about additional international presentations/, see Dr. Chen's CV)

Clinical

Specialties

  • Neurosurgery
  • Oncology

Board Certifications

American Board of Neurological Surgeons 

Clinical Interests

Brain tumors; minimally invasive cranial surgery; laser thermal ablation; endoscopy; oncolytic virus delivery; tractography-guided surgery; awake craniotomy