He specializes in complex operations for the removal of brain and spine tumors. His training has included a Masters in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, neurosurgical residency at the Virginia Commonwealth University Hospitals, a PhD in anatomy and neurobiology from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Chen has an active lab focused on developing next generation therapies for the treatment of cancers that have metastasized to the central nervous system. He has published over 50 papers, book chapters and books and has given numerous talks and lectures. Dr. Chen is the past president of the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics.