Yuan Chen, Ph.D., joined the UC San Diego Department of Surgery in January 2020 as a Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology focusing on research. Dr. Chen obtained a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Rutgers University and completed post-doctoral studies at the Scripps Research Institute. In 1994 she joined City of Hope as a faculty and was promoted to full Professor in 2005. She served on various leadership roles including the Dean of Transdisciplinary Research at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope. Dr. Chen’s current research interests center on the role of ubiquitin-like modifications in anti-tumor immune response and the development of therapies to target novel mechanisms to treat recalcitrant cancers like pancreatic cancer. Dr. Chen’s research has been funded by the NIH, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.