Denaly Sonia Chen
Biography
Denaly Sonia Chen, M.D., is a Hematology/Oncology Staff Physician at the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach, California, where she serves as Infusion Center Chief and Cancer Survivorship & Surveillance Program Coordinator. She also holds an appointment as Assistant Health Sciences Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. Chen received her medical doctorate from Albany Medical College in 2018 and completed her fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at LAC+USC Medical Center in 2024.
Chen's research spans basic science and clinical oncology, with contributions to understanding cancer biology and clinical management. Her early work at the University of California, San Diego focused on cell cycle regulation and centriole duplication, resulting in a publication in Molecular Biology of the Cell. Her clinical research has addressed liquid biopsies in cancer, tumor immune architecture in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and the clinical management of conditions including Paget's disease of the breast and advanced alveolar soft part sarcoma.
Prior to her medical training, Chen conducted research at the Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research and the National Yang Ming University AIDS Research & Prevention Center in Taiwan, where her work on HIV molecular epidemiology earned first place at the Taiwan Tech Trek Academic Research Conference in 2012. She completed her undergraduate education at the University of California, San Diego, earning dual degrees in Human Biology and Music with Honors.
Return to topEducation
- B.S. in Human Biology, University of California, San Diego, 2012
- B.A. in Music, University of California, San Diego, 2012
- M.D., Albany Medical College, 2018
Distinctions
- American Society of Nephrology Kidney STARS Program, 2017
- Taiwan Tech Trek Academic Research Conference 1st place oral presentation in Life Science division, 2012
- Keck USC Fellow of the Month, 2023
Areas of Expertise
- Hematology and Oncology
- Liquid Biopsy Diagnostics
- Tumor Immune Architecture
- Measurable Residual Disease Detection
- Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma
- Hormone Receptor Expressing Lung Cancer
- Paget's Disease Clinical Management
Recent Publications
- Reynoso J, Chen D, Chow F, “Clinical response of recurrent ganglioglioma with BRAF A598_T599INSV mutation to BRAF/MEK inhibitors (P9-6.011)” (opens in new tab), Neurology, vol. 104, no. 7_Supplement_1, 2025.
- Ashouri K, Nittur V, Ginosyan AA, Hwang J, Adnani B, Chen D, Savitala-Damerla L, Schiff K, Chaudhary P, Kovach AE, Ladha A, Siddiqi I, Ali A, Woan K, Tam E, Yaghmour G, “Concordance of Next-Generation Sequencing and Multiparametric Flow Cytometry Methods for Detecting Measurable Residual Disease in Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Optimizing Prediction of Clinical Outcomes From a Single-Center Study” (opens in new tab), Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma and Leukemia, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. e59-e66.e2, 2024.
- Hsu R, Chen D, Xia B, Feldman R, Cozen W, Raez LE, Borghaei H, Kim C, Nagasaka M, Mamdani H, Vanderwalde AM, Lopes G, Socinski MA, Wozniak AJ, Spira AI, Liu SV, Nieva JJ, “Impact of gender and mutational differences in hormone receptor expressing non-small cell lung cancer” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Oncology, vol. 13, pp. 1215524, 2023.
- Chen D, Zhu Y, Moussally M, Tatishchev S, Carey J, Brownson KE, Evans C, Sheth P, Lang JE, “Paget's Disease of the Breast: a Review of Clinical Management” (opens in new tab), Current Breast Cancer Reports, vol. 15, pp. 379-387, 2023.
- Colombo AR, Hav M, Singh M, Xu A, Gamboa A, Lemos T, Gerdtsson E, Chen D, Houldsworth J, Shaknovich R, Aoki T, Chong L, Takata K, Chavez EA, Steidl C, Hicks J, Kuhn P, Siddiqi I, Merchant A, “Single-cell spatial analysis of tumor immune architecture in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma” (opens in new tab), Blood Advances, vol. 6, no. 16, pp. 4675-4690, 2022.
- Mendiola VL, Chennapan K, Chen D, Rodman J, Ladha A, Tam E, Woan K, Yaghmour G, “MPN-215 Outcomes of Myelofibrosis Patients Post Allogeneic-HSCT at the University of Southern California, a Retrospective Study” (opens in new tab), Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma and Leukemia, vol. 22 Suppl 2, pp. S330, 2022.
- Chen D, Chopra S, Cheng P, Hu JS, “Advanced Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma with CNS Metastases Response after Treatment with Atezolizumab: A Case Report” (opens in new tab), Clin Oncol Case Rep, vol. 5, no. 3, 2022.
- Mendiola V.L., Chen D., Rodman J., Yaghmour G., “ALL-331 Outcomes Using “Flipped” Conditioning Regimens (Fractionated Total Body Irradiation Then Fludarabine or Cyclophosphamide) for Allo-HSCT at the University of Southern California, a Retrospective Study” (opens in new tab), Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma and Leukemia, vol. 22, pp. S201, 2022.
- Snow A, Chen D, Lang JE, “The current status of the clinical utility of liquid biopsies in cancer” (opens in new tab), Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, vol. 19, no. 11, pp. 1031-1041, 2019.
- Holland AJ, Fachinetti D, Da Cruz S, Zhu Q, Vitre B, Lince-Faria M, Chen D, Parish N, Verma IM, Bettencourt-Dias M, Cleveland DW, “Polo-like kinase 4 controls centriole duplication but does not directly regulate cytokinesis” (opens in new tab), Mol Biol Cell, vol. 23, no. 10, pp. 1838-45, 2012.
This profile was created with the help of AI.
Last updated on 2/19/2026.