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Faculty Detail    
Name HERBERT CHEN
Professor of Surgery
Chairman, Department of Surgery
Surgeon-in-Chief, UAB
 
Campus Address BDB 618- Zip 0012
Phone  (205) 934-3333
E-mail  herbchen@uab.edu
Other websites PubMed
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Education
Undergraduate  Stanford University    1988  B.S. Biological Sciences with Honors and Distinction 
Medical School  Duke University    1992  Medical Doctor 
Fellowship  Johns Hopkins University    1999  Research 
Residency  Johns Hopkins Universtiy    1999  General Surgery  
Fellowship  Johns Hopkins University    2000  Surgical Oncology, Endocrine Surgery  


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary    Surgery - Gen Surg Oncology Section
Primary  Surgery Chair Office  Surgery Chair Office Professor
Secondary  Biomedical Engineering  Biomedical Engineering Professor
Secondary  Ped-Endocrinology And Diabetes  Ped-Endocrinology And Diabetes Professor
Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Professor
Center  Comprehensive Diabetes Center  Comprehensive Diabetes Center Professor
Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Chair of Division 

Biographical Sketch 
In October 2015, Dr. Herbert Chen was named as the new Chairman of the Department of Surgery. A native of Wisconsin, Chen received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and began his medical education at the Duke University School of Medicine, graduating in 1992. He completed his surgical residency in general surgery at Johns Hopkins in 1999, along with a postdoctoral research fellowship in 1997 and a surgical oncology and endocrinology fellowship in 2000. Dr. Chen came to UAB from the University of Wisconsin, where he was the Layton F. Rikkers, M.D., Chair in Surgical Leadership, chair of the Division of General Surgery, vice chair of Research for the Department of Surgery and professor in the departments of Surgery, Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics. Dr. Chen is a specialist in endocrine surgery, a funded surgeon scientist, and a dedicated educator. Dr. Chen is an Associate/Section Editor for Annals of Surgery, Annals of Surgical Oncology, Scientific American Surgery, The Oncologist, and Journal of Surgical Research, and serves on 6 other editorial boards. He is also the Past-President of Association for Academic Surgery, the current Secretary-Treasurer for Surgical Biology Club II, and the current President-Elect for the Society of Clinical Surgery. Dr. Chen has mentored over 100 faculty, post-doctoral fellows, residents, medical students, and undergraduates in his lab.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Association of Endocrine Surgeons  Recorder 2011-2014   
American College of Surgeons  Fellow   
American Society of Clinical Investigation  member   
American Surgical Association  member   
American Thyroid Association  member   
Association for Academic Surgery  President 2008-2009   
Central Surgical Association  Councilor 2009-2015   
Endocrine Society   member   
International Association of Endocrine Surgeons  Councilor 2012-2015   
International Society of Surgery   member   



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Description
Dr. Chen’s clinical interests include endocrine and neuroendocrine disease with a focus on minimally invasive endocrine surgery. He has one of the largest experiences with radioguided parathyroidectomy (MIRP), and performs high volume thyroid and adrenal surgery. Dr. Chen’s laboratory focuses on the role of cellular signaling pathways in the differentiation and growth of neuroendocrine (NE) tumors including carcinoid, pancreatic islet cell, pheochromocytoma, and medullary thyroid cancer.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Chen H, Boyle TJ, Malim M, Cullen BR, Lyerly HK. Derivation of a biologically contained replication system for human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1992; 89: 7678-7682.   
Borges MW, Linnoila RI, van de Velde HJ, Chen H, Nelkin BD, Mabry M, Baylin SB, Ball DW. An achaete-scute homologue essential for neuroendocrine differentiation in the lung. Nature. 1997; 386:852-855.    
Chen H, Thiagalingam A, Chopra H, Borges MW, Feder JN, Nelkin BD, Baylin SB, Ball DW. Conservation of the lateral inhibition pathway in human lung cancer: a hairy-related protein (HES-1) directly represses achaete-scute homolog-1 expression. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1997; 94:5355-5360.   
Van Gompel JJ, Kunnimalaiyaan M, Holen K, Chen H. ZM336372, a Raf-1 Activator, Suppresses Growth and Neuroendocrine Hormone Levels in Carcinoid Tumor Cells. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2005;4(6): 910-17.   
Chen H, Mack E, Starling JR. A Comprehensive Evaluation of Peri-operative Adjuncts during Minimally Invasive Parathyroidectomy: Which is Most Reliable? Ann Surg 2005; 242: 375-383.   
Kunnimalaiyaan M, Traeger K, Chen H. Conservation of the Notch1 Signaling Pathway in Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Cells. American Journal of Physiology-GI and Liver 2005; 289: G636-G642   
Kunnimalaiyaan M, Vaccaro AM, Ndiaye MA, Chen H. Inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β, a downstream target of the raf-1 pathway, is associated with growth suppression in medullary thyroid cancer cells. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2007; 6: 1151-1158.   
Haymart MR, Repplinger DJ, Leverson GE, Elson DF, Sippel RS, Jaume JC, Chen H. Higher Serum TSH Level in Thyroid Nodule Patients is Associated with Greater Risks of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer and Advanced Tumor Stage. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 2008; 93:809-14.   
Xiao X, Ning L, Chen H. Notch1 Mediates Growth Suppression of Papillary and Follicular Thyroid Cancer Cells by HDAC Inhibitors. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2009; 8: 350-356. PMCID: PMC2673961.   PMC2673961.  
Adler JT, Cook MR, Luo Y, Pitt SC, Ju J, Li W, Shen B, Kunnimalaiyaan M, Chen H. Tautomycetin and tautomycin suppress the growth of medullary thyroid cancer cells via inhibition of GSK-3ß. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2009; 8 :( 4) 914-920. PMCID: PMC2670470  PMC2670470 
Cook MR, Pinchot SN, Jaskula-Sztul R, Luo J, Kunnimalaiyaan M, Chen H. Identification of a novel Raf-1 pathway activator that inhibits gastrointestinal carcinoid cell growth. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2010; 9:429-37. PMCID: PMC2820603  PMC2820603 
Chen H, Wang TS, Yen TW, Doffek K, Krzywd E, Schaefer S, Sippel RS, Wilson SD. Operative Failures after Parathyroidectomy for Hyperparathyroidism: the Influence of Surgical Volume. Annals of Surgery 2010; 252: 691-695.   
Chen H, Sippel RS, O’Dorisio MS, Vinik AI, Lloyd RV, Pacak K. The NANETS Consensus Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Neuroendocrine Tumors: Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, and Medullary Thyroid Cancer. Pancreas 2010; 39: 775-83   
Pinchot SN, Jaskula-Sztul R, Ning L, Peters NR, Cook MR, Kunnimalaiyaan M, Chen H. Identification and Validation of Notch Pathway Activating Compounds through a Novel High-Throughput Screening Method. Cancer 2011; 117: 1386-1398. PMCID: PMC3117093  PMC3117093 
Lubner SJ, Kunnimalaiyaan M, Holen KD, Ning L, Ndiaye M, LoConte NK, Mulkerin DL, Schelman WR, Chen H. A Pre-Clinical and Clinical Study of Lithium in Low-Grade Neuroendocrine Tumors. The Oncologist 2011; 16: 452-457. PMCID: PMC3119207  PMC3119207 
Schneider DF, Mazeh H, Sippel RS, Chen H. Is Minimally Invasive Parathyroidectomy Associated with Higher Recurrence Compared to Bilateral Exploration? Analysis of over 1000 cases. Surgery 2012; 6: 1008-1015. PMCID: PMC3501613  PMCID: PMC3501613 
Mazeh H, Khan Q, Schneider DF, Schaefer S, Sippel RS, Chen H. Same day thyroidectomy program: Eligibility and safety evaluation. Surgery 2012; 6:1133-1141. PMID: 23158183  PMID: 23158183 
Pinchot SN, Youngwirth L, Rajamanickam V, Schaefer S, Sippel RS, Chen H. Changes in swallowing-related quality of life after parathyroidectomy for hyperparathyroidism: A prospective cohort study. The Oncologist 2012; 17:1271-1276. PMID: 22829568  PMID: 22829568 
Shepet K, Alhefdhi A, Lai N, Mazeh H, Sippel RS, Chen H. Hereditary Medullary Thyroid Cancer: Age-Appropriate Thyroidectomy Improves Disease-Free Survival. Annals of Surgical Oncology 2012; 172 (2): 195-198. PMCID: PMC3586982  PMC3586982 
Oltmann SC, Chen H. Minimally Invasive Radioguided Parathyroidectomy. Curr Surg Rep. DOI 10.1007/s40137-012-0001-y   
Yu X, Jaskula-Sztul R, Ahmed K, Harrison AD, Kunnimalaiyaan M, Chen H. Resveratrol Induces Differentiation Markers Expression in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma via Activation of Notch1 Signaling and Suppresses Cell Growth. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2013. 12(7): 1276-87. PMCID: PMC3707971  PMC3707971 
Roy M, Chen H, Sippel RS. Current Understanding and Management of Medullary Thyroid Cancer. The Oncologist 2013; 18: 1093-1100   
Xu W, Burke JF, Pillaa S, Chen H, Jaskula-Sztul R, Gong S. Octreotide-functionalized and resveratrol-loaded unimolecular micelles for targeted neuroendocrine cancer therapy. Nanoscale 2013; 5: 9924-33. PMCID: PMC3867929  PMC3867929 
Pozo K, Castro-Rivera E, Tan C, Plattner F, Schwach G, Siegl V, Meyer D, Guo A, Gundara J, Mettlach G, Richer E, Guevara LA, Ning L, Tsai L, Antich P, Sidhu S, Robinson BG, Chen H, Nwariaku FE, Pfragner R, Richardson JA, Bibb JA. The Role of Cdk5 in Neuroendocrine Thyroid Cancer. Cancer Cell 2013; 24: 499-511.   
Jaskula-Sztul R, Eide J, Tesfazghi S, Dammalapati A, Harrison A, Yu X, Scheinebeck C, Winston-McPherson G, Kupcho KR , Robers MB, Hundal AK, Tang W, Chen H. Tumor-suppressor role of Notch3 in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma revealed by genetic and pharmacological induction. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2015; 14: 1-14. PMCID: PMC4326595  PMCID: PMC4326595 
Rajaei MH, Oltmann SC, Schneider DF, Sippel RS, Chen H. Outcomes after Subtotal Parathyroidectomy for Primary Hyperparathyroidism due to Hyperplasia: Significance of Whole vs. Partial Gland Remnant. Annals of Surgical Oncology 2015; 22:966-71. PMCID: PMC4330105  PMC4330105 
Tevis SE, Chen H. Papillary Thyroid Cancer: How Aggressive Should Surgery Be? Nature Reviews Endocrinology 2015; 11: 195-196.   
Lou I, Foley D, Odorico SK, Leverson G, Schneider DF, Sippel RS, Chen H. How well does renal transplantation cure hyperparathyroidism? Annals of Surgery (in press). NIHMSID# 690976   

Keywords
Thyroid, Parathyroid, Oncology, endocrine surgery.