Xi Chen

Xi Chen is an Associate Professor and CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He also serves as a Member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research focuses on understanding how cancer and immune cells respond to stress and therapeutic insults to evade immune surveillance and develop drug resistance. Key areas include ER stress, the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR), cancer immunology, and proteostasis networks.

Dr. Chen holds a Ph.D. from the Genome Institute of Singapore/A*STAR and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Weill Cornell Medical College. He has received prestigious awards such as the CPRIT Scholar Award and NIH MERIT Award. His laboratory has pioneered studies on IRE1α/XBP1-mediated chemotherapy resistance, leading to clinical trials of IRE1α inhibitors.

Notable research contributions include uncovering mechanisms of KRAS inhibitor resistance, ERAD's role in hematopoietic stem cell maintenance, and MYC-driven breast cancer pathways. His work integrates biochemistry, genetics, and preclinical models to develop novel therapeutic strategies.

Key awards include the CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research (2015–2019), Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Career Development Award (2009–2012), and NIH MERIT Award (2018–2023). His publications span Nature, Science, Nature Cell Biology, and Cell, with a focus on stress signaling in cancer progression and therapy resistance.

Dr. Chen's team actively investigates proteostasis networks, tumor microenvironment interactions, and immunotherapeutic targets. He collaborates on translational research to bridge basic discoveries with clinical applications in cancer treatment.