Haiying Chen

Dr. Haiying Chen graduated from Inner Mongolia Medical College in China with a Bachelor of Medicine degree (equivalent to MD) in 1994.

He then studied biomedical research and obtained a Master of Science degree from Albany Medical College (Albany, NY, USA) in 1998.

Dr. Chen also obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications from Concordia University (Montreal, QC, Canada) in 2002. He completed anatomical and clinical pathology residency in Tufts Medical Center (Boston, MA, USA) in 2015.

He completed an Oncological Surgical Pathology fellowship in Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Buffalo NY, USA) in 2016 and then went on to complete a Pediatric Pathology fellowship in University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) in 2017 before working as a staff pathologist in the Hospital for Sick Children.

Research Synopsis

I have a strong background in oncological pathology and have been active in cancer-related research. I am conducting both independent and collaborative research.

The following are some of the research projects I am working on.

1. TLE1 immunostain in germ cell tumors.

TLE1 (transducin-like enhancer of split-1) protein is a sensitive but nonspecific diagnostic immunohistochemical marker for synovial sarcoma.

In 2017, we found that some germ cell tumors (germinoma, yolk sac tumor and embryonal carcinoma) also stained positive for TLE1.

This finding has never been reported in the medical literature and has implications for the diagnosis of both synovial sarcoma and germ cell tumors. I am in the process of testing TLE1 stain on germ cell tumors in order to characterize the sensitivity and specificity of TLE1 stain on germ cell tumors.

2. Bile Salt Export Pump (BSEP) protein expression in pediatric hepatocellular tumors.

This is a collaborative project with the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. BSEP protein was found to be a sensitive and specific immunohistochemical marker for hepatocellular carcinoma in adult patients.

There has been no previous study on the utility of BSEP protein in the diagnosis of pediatric hepatocellular tumors.

My initial study in Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (2017) showed that BSEP protein expression can be used as an adjunct marker in the diagnosis of pediatric hepatocellular tumors.

Now I am expanding the study by adding patient samples from the Hospital for Sick Children.

 3. Activity of mTORC1 (mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1) pathway in vascular anomalies.

This is a collaborative project with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

There is evidence that hyperactivity of mTORC1 pathway may be responsible for the clinical behavior of some difficult-to-treat vascular anomalies.

Samples of vascular anomalies from both hospitals will be analyzed in the research facility of Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

I am responsible for the selection of pertinent cases from the Hospital for Sick Children and the interpretation of some of the immunohistochemistry results.

4. Circulating tumor cells in a mouse model of Li-Fraumeni Syndrome.

This is a collaborative project with the basic science researchers and oncologists in the Hospital for Sick Children.

I have been providing diagnostic histomorphology analysis of mouse tumor samples for this project.

Recent Publications

Chen H, Davis A, Reyes-Múgica M. (2016) A child with total intestinal aganglionosis. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Department of Pathology web case of December 2016. (http://path.upmc.edu/casemonth/ap-casemonth.html)

Chen H, Wolff J, Chicka M, Cowan J, Pilichowska M. (2015) A novel GATA-1 mutation in a neonate with transient abnormal myelopoiesis without Down syndrome. North American Journal of Medicine and Science. 2015;8(4): 179-182. (http://www.najms.net)

Chen H, Magnani B. (2014) Excipients can cause recurrent pneumonia in intravenous drug users. Clinical & Forensic Toxicology News, June 2014.

Finak G, Bertos N, Pepin F, Sadekova S, Souleimanova M, Zhao H, Chen H, Omeroglu G, Meterissian S, Omeroglu A, Hallett M, Park M. (2008). Stromal gene expression predicts outcome in breast cancer. Nature Medicine. 2008;14(5):518-527. 

Oliva A, Rosebrock A, Ferrezuelo F, Pyne S, Chen H, Skiena S, Futcher B, Leatherwood J.  (2005). The cell cycle-regulated genes of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology. 2005;3(7):e225.