Keck School Faculty

Dr. Fei Chen is a genetic epidemiologist with > 10 years of experience in cancer research. Her research focuses on understanding the genetic contribution to risk and disparities of common cancer, with a special emphasis on prostate cancer, breast cancer, and multiple primary malignancies (MPMs) in cancer survivors. Her research utilizes statistical approaches to (1) identify novel genetic variants (e.g. single nucleotide variants, copy number variations) associated with cancer risk in racial/ethnically diverse populations, and (2) understand the relationship between genetic factors and their interplay with non-genetic factors in cancer susceptibility. Dr. Chen has led several large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS), whole-exome sequencing (WES), and targeted sequencing analyses investigating the role of germline SNVs in the susceptibility of pancreatic, prostate, and breast cancer across ancestry populations. Her recent research also investigates the interaction between polygenic risk scores (PRS) and lifestyle factors in the development of prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer in the Multiethnic Cohort Study (MEC).