Guoan Chen

Guoan Chen, M.D., Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the School of Medicine, Department of Human Cell Biology and Genetics, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). After obtaining his medical degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University (1986) and advanced degrees in Pulmonary Medicine (1992) and Oncology (1999), he completed post-doctoral training at the University of Michigan, where he rose through the faculty ranks from Research Fellow to Associate Research Scientist. In 2018 he returned to China to join SUSTech.

Education & Training

• 1981–1986 B.S. in Medicine, Xi’an Medical University (now Xi’an Jiaotong University)
• 1988–1992 M.S. in Pulmonary Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University
• 1996–1999 Ph.D. in Oncology, Peking Union Medical College / Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
• 2000–2003 Post-doctoral Fellow, Tumor Biology Laboratory, University of Michigan

Research Interests

Dr. Chen’s laboratory integrates genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics to dissect the molecular basis of lung cancer. Using high-throughput platforms—gene expression microarrays, SNP arrays, miRNA arrays, RNA-seq, single-cell sequencing—his group identifies driver alterations that govern patient survival, early detection and therapeutic response. A major focus is the functional characterization of non-coding RNAs (microRNAs, lncRNAs, circRNAs) as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, and as therapeutic targets for overcoming metastasis and drug resistance in lung cancer.

Scientific Output & Impact

Across more than 130 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Chen’s work has appeared in Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Cancer Cell, JNCI, Nature Communications, PNAS, Clinical Cancer Research, Journal of Thoracic Oncology, Autophagy and other leading journals. His studies have been cited >13 000 times (h-index 57), reflecting broad influence in thoracic oncology, cancer genomics and translational medicine.

Patents & Translation

• U.S. Patent 7 597 890 – Methods and compositions for diagnosing lung cancer
• U.S. Patent Applications 20120295803 & 20150153346 – Lung cancer molecular signatures

Teaching & Mentoring

Since 2019 Dr. Chen has designed and taught core undergraduate courses at SUSTech: Medical Molecular Biology, Integrated Biomedical Experiments, Physiology & Pathophysiology. From 2010-2018 at the University of Michigan he mentored 2-4 visiting scholars or research fellows annually; earlier in Xi’an he instructed >150 medical students in Internal Medicine and Diagnostics and supervised residents and post-doctoral fellows.

Laboratory & Collaboration

Dr. Chen runs an active translational laboratory at SUSTech and maintains collaborative networks with clinicians at SUSTech Hospital and international partners, aiming to translate multi-omic discoveries into precision diagnostics and targeted therapies for lung cancer.