Ru Chen

Ru Chen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine-Gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. He holds a PhD in Pathology from the University of Washington. His research focuses on gastrointestinal (GI) cancer tumorigenesis, genomic/proteomic alterations in tumor progression, and the development of diagnostic/therapeutic biomarkers. Key areas include IBD-associated colorectal cancer and the interplay between gut microbiota and cancer development. His lab investigates signaling pathways in pancreatic cancer and the molecular defects in early colorectal cancer.

Education:

• PhD in Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle

Research Interests:

• Discovery of genomic/proteomic markers for GI cancers
• Mechanisms of tumor invasion/metastasis in pancreatic cancer
• Neoplastic progression in colitis-associated colorectal cancer
• Gut microbiota-host interactions in cancer etiology

Research Trends: Recent work emphasizes proteomic heterogeneity in pancreatic cyst fluids, metabolic pathways targeting NRF2, and ROS detoxification mechanisms in colorectal cancer. These studies aim to translate molecular insights into clinical diagnostics and therapies.

Labs/Teams: His laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine focuses on translational research bridging basic molecular discoveries to clinical applications in GI oncology.