Moon S. Chen, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Associate Director, Cancer Control/Cancer Disparities
Locations and Contact
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
2279 45th Street
Sacramento, CA 95817
Phone: 916-734-5959
Research/Academic Interests
Moon S. Chen, Jr., M.P.H., Ph.D. is a nationally renowned expert in cancer health disparities, particularly as they affect Asian-American populations. He is UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center's Associate Director for Cancer Control, leading a portfolio of research that addresses determinants of cancer risk and their mitigation in human populations. Determinants include access to care, behaviors (e.g., tobacco use, screening, etc.), socio-cultural factors, and the interactions of individuals with their environment and the health-care system.
He also co-leads the Population Sciences and Health Disparities research program for the Cancer Center that earned an Outstanding merit rating.
Through his leadership, the National Cancer Institute-funded Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training received the first NIH Organizational Health Disparities Leadership Award. His other awards include the American Cancer Society (National) Humanitarian Award; the National Cancer Institute Director's Outstanding Service Award; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Hep B Award. He has published extensively, particularly in mitigating cancer health disparities, with respect to viral hepatitis and cancer screening, and tobacco control.
He has published extensively, particularly in mitigating cancer health disparities, with respect to viral hepatitis and cancer screening, and tobacco control.
Division
Hematology and Oncology
Center/Program Affiliation
Undergraduate School
B.S., Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI 1968
Other School
Ph.D., Health Education, Texas Woman's University, Denton TX 1979
Other School
M.P.H., International Health, Tulane University, New Orleans LA 1974
Other School
M.S., Health Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI 1970
Best Paper award for: "Lay health educators increase colorectal cancer screening among Hmong Americans: A cluster randomized controlled trial, National Task Force on Hepatitis B: Focus on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, 2016
Hep B Champion Award for "Leadership and commitment in addressing Hep B and eliminating health disparities in the U.S.", Hep B United Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016
National Service Award, National Task Force on Hepatitis B: Focus on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (Inaugural), 2015
Chen et al. Cancer 2014; 120: 1091-96 selected as one of 2014's major achievements in clinical cancer research and care and included in the American Society for Clinical Oncology's Clinical Cancer Advances 2015: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, 2015
Nominee for American Association for Cancer Research, Distinguished Lecture on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities. Nominated by Ted Wun, MD, Associate Dean for Research, School of Medicine, UC Davis and Chief, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine School of Medicine, UC Davis, 2014
For a comprehensive list of Dr. Chen's publications, please click here (opens new window).
Chak EW, Luna R, MacDonald S, Stewart SL, Chen MS Jr, Bowlus C. Automated electronic health registry-based hepatitis B screening. J Viral Hepat. 2023 Mar;30(3):228-231. doi:10.1111/jvh.13784. Epub 2022 Dec 21. PMID:36514989.
Calabro' A, Abdelhafez YG, Triumbari EKA, Spencer BA, Chen MS Jr, Albano D, Cassim CR, Bertagna F, Dondi F, Cherry SR, Badawi RD, Sen F, Nardo L. 18F-FDG gallbladder uptake: observation from a total-body PET/CT scanner. BMC Med Imaging. 2023 Jan 10;23(1):9. doi:10.1186/s12880-022-00957-5. PMID:36627570.
Quino JE, Perez F, Perez A, Vang AP, Avendano L, Dang J, Chen MS Jr, Arana AM, Rocha S, Nuno M, Lara PN Jr, Fejerman L, Carvajal-Carmona LG. A Cancer Health Needs Assessment Reveals Important Differences Between US-Born and Foreign-Born Latinos in California. Front Oncol. 2022 Jul 7;12:883200. doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.883200. PMID:35875145.
Chak EW, Cortez-Toledo E, Luna R, MacDonald S, Stewart SL, Cooke DT, Chen MS Jr. Electronic Population Health Tools Enhance Preventive Care for Older Adults. Am J Med. 2022 Jul;135(7):840-843. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2021.12.015. Epub 2022 Feb 24. PMID:35219688.
Chen MS, Lee RJ, Madan RA, Ta Park V, Shinagawa SM, Sun T, Gomez SL. Charting a Path Towards Asian American Cancer Health Equity: A Way Forward. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2022 Jun 13;114(6):792-799. doi:10.1093/jnci/djac055. PMID:35437573.
Koc S, Lloyd MW, Grover JW, Xiao N, Seepo S, Subramanian SL, Ray M, Frech C, DiGiovanna J, Webster P, Neuhauser S, Srivastava A, Woo XY, Sanderson BJ, White B, Lott P, Dobrolecki LE, Dowst H; PDXNet Consortium; Evrard YA, Wallace TA, Moscow JA, Doroshow JH, Mitsiades N, Kaochar S, Pan CX, Chen MS, Carvajal-Carmona L, Welm AL, Welm BE, Lewis MT, Govindan R, Ding L, Li S, Herlyn M, Davies MA, Roth J, Meric-Bernstam F, Robinson PN, Bult CJ, Davis-Dusenbery B, Dean DA 2nd, Chuang JH. PDXNet portal: patient-derived Xenograft model, data, workflow and tool discovery. NAR Cancer. 2022 Apr 22;4(2):zcac014. doi:10.1093/narcan/zcac014. PMID:35475145.
Chu JN, Stewart SL, Gildengorin G, Wong C, Lam H, McPhee SJ, Chen MS, Bastani R, Maxwell AE, Taylor VM, Nguyen TT. Effect of a media intervention on hepatitis B screening among Vietnamese Americans. Ethn Health. 2022 Feb;27(2):361-374. doi:10.1080/13557858.2019.1672862. Epub 2019 Oct 14. PMID:31608675.
Chak E, Vu F, Dang J, Smith U, Stewart S, Tam K, Beste-Fong A, Phelps B, Johnson I, Suarez M, Pat Pauly M, Chen MS Jr. Enhancing Electronic Health Systems to End Transmission of Chronic Hepatitis B During COVID-19: A Collaborative Approach. Clin Liver Dis (Hoboken). 2021 Aug 5;17(6):424-428. doi:10.1002/cld.1144. PMID:34386208.
Jacobsen PB, Baskin ML, Chen MS Jr, Herbst RS, Lathan CS. How a Priority of Community Outreach and Engagement Is Changing Health Equity at Cancer Centers. Health Equity. 2021 Apr 21;5(1):227-235. doi:10.1089/heq.2021.29005.rtd. PMID:33937609.