Physician Biography
Dr. Roc Chen is a board-certified neurosurgeon with expertise in cerebrovascular neurosurgery, endovascular interventional procedures, skull base neurovascular disease and skull base tumors.
An assistant professor of neurosurgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, Dr. Chen received his medical degree at Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Sciences in Guangzhou, China, followed by residencies at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Children's Hospital of Harvard Medical School. He has completed fellowships in neurointerventional radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital of Harvard Medical School, in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute and in neuroendovascular surgery and cerebrovascular neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Prior to joining the UTHealth Medical School and the Mischer Neuroscience Institute at Memorial Hermann, he was an assistant professor of neurosurgery, director of the Cerebrovascular and Neuroendovascular Program and director of the Skull Base Program at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Chen has co-authored studies published in Neurosurgery, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Neurosurgical Focus, Acta Neurochirurgica, the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, the Journal of Biological Chemistry, BNI Quarterly and the American Journal of Physiology, among others. He is the institutional coprincipal investigator of multiple studies, including: "A Randomized Multicenter Clinical Trial of Unruptured Brain Arteriovenous Malformations" (ARUBA study), "Albumin in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage-induced Vasospasm Trial" (ALISAH), "Evaluation of Presidio and Cerecyte Coils in Large and Giant Aneurysms" (PAC study), "ev3 Researching AXIUM Coiling Experience and Recanalization (RACER) Study," "Cordis Enterprise Vascular Reconstruction Device and Delivery System", and the "Wingspan Intracranial Stent" study. Dr. Chen is also an acting investigator for the "Interventional Management of Stroke Trial Phase III (IMS-III)" and "MR and Recanalization of Stroke Clots Using Embolectomy (MR RESCUE)" studies.
Dr. Chen specializes in the following diseases:
- Carotid and vertebral occlusive diseases
- Intracranial occlusive diseases that require endarterectomy, bypass or stenting
- Intracranial aneurysms and subarachnoid hemorrhages
- Brain arteriovenous malformations
- Brainstem and cerebral cavernous malformations