Chen Zhi Xiong

• Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, National University of Singapore
• Assistant Dean (Education), National University of Singapore
• Principal Investigator, NUS Centre for Cancer Research Translational Research Programme (N2CR)
• Joint Scientist, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital

• Targeting XIAP for neuroblastoma treatment
• Monitoring disease and evaluating MRD in pediatric cancers
• Characterizing genetic landscape of neuroblastoma
• Mechanisms of neuroblastoma pathogenesis

• Medical sciences in clinical reasoning and decision-making
• Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning
• Faculty development and evaluation
• Student and faculty mentoring

Our team and collaborators are seeking new therapies and new ways of monitoring neuroblastoma and other paediatric cancers through our joint efforts at the Neurodevelopment and Cancer Laboratory at NUS Centre for Cancer Research Translational Research Programme (N2CR) and VIVA-KKH Paediatric Brain and Solid Tumour Programme at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH)

As an educator embedded in the training of health and life sciences professionals, I care deeply about finding ways to broaden education and promote transdisciplinary learning through faculty development, medical education technology, and university-industry collaborations. As Master of NUS LightHouse and ex-Assistant Dean of Students for NUS, I firmly believe that student development through human communities and connections is essential to a complete university experience that cannot be replaced digitally. We must never stop experimenting and championing innovative ways to build nexus of connections between classroom and out-of-classroom learning. The former opens doors to jobs while the latter helps graduates stay on course in career and in life.

1. Loh, A., Angelina, C., Wong, M. K., Tan, S. H., Sukhatme, S. A., Yeo, T., Lim, S. B., Lee, Y. T., Soh, S. Y., Leung, W., Chang, K., Chua, Y. W., Alkaff, S., Lim, T., Lim, C. T., & Chen, Z. X. (2022). Pro-metastatic and mesenchymal gene expression signatures characterize circulating tumor cells of neuroblastoma patients with bone marrow metastases and relapse. Frontiers in oncology, 12, 939460.
2. Kuick, C. H., Tan, J. Y., Jasmine, D., Sumanty, T., Ng, A., Venkatesh, B., Chen, H., Loh, E., Jain, S., Seow, W. Y., Ng, E., Lian, D., Soh, S. Y., Chang, K., Chen, Z. X., & Loh, A. (2022). Mutations of 1p genes do not consistently abrogate tumor suppressor functions in 1p-intact neuroblastoma. BMC cancer, 22(1), 717.
3. Wong, R. L. Y., Wong, M. R. E., Kuick, C. H., Saffari, S. E., . . . Chen, Z. X., Iyer, P., Tan, E. E. K., Soh, S. Y., Iyer, N. G., Fan, Q., and Loh, A. H. P. (2021). Integrated Genomic Profiling and Drug Screening of Patient-Derived Cultures Identifies Individualized Copy Number-Dependent Susceptibilities Involving PI3K Pathway and 17q Genes in Neuroblastoma. Front Oncol, 11, 709525.
4. Hee, E., Wong, M. K., Tan, S. H., Choo, Z., . . . Chen, Z., Chang, K. T. E., and Loh, A. H. P. (2020). Neuroblastoma patient-derived cultures are enriched for a mesenchymal gene signature and reflect individual drug response. Cancer Sci, 111(10), 3780-3792.
5. Choo, Z., Loh, A. H. P., and Chen, Z. X. (2019). Destined to Die: Apoptosis and Pediatric Cancers. Cancers, 11(11), 1623.
6. Angelina, C., Tan, I. S. Y., Choo, Z., Lee, O. Z. J., Pervaiz, S., and Chen, Z. X. (2017). KIF1Bbeta increases ROS to mediate apoptosis and reinforces its protein expression through O 2(-) in a positive feedback mechanism in neuroblastoma. Sci Rep, 7(1), 16867.
7. Cai, W., Xiong Chen, Z.#, Rane, G., Satendra Singh, S., Choo, Z., Wang, C., . . . Prem Kumar, A. (2017). Wanted DEAD/H or Alive: Helicases Winding Up in Cancers. J Natl Cancer Inst, 109(6). #co-first authors
8. Li, S., Fell, S. M., Surova, O., Smedler, E., Wallis, K., Chen, Z. X., . . . Schlisio, S. (2016). The 1p36 Tumor Suppressor KIF 1Bbeta Is Required for Calcineurin Activation, Controlling Mitochondrial Fission and Apoptosis. Dev Cell, 36(2), 164-178.
9. Chen, Z. X., Wallis, K., Fell, S. M., Sobrado, V. R., Hemmer, M. C., Ramskold, D., . . . Schlisio, S. (2014). RNA helicase A is a downstream mediator of KIF1Bbeta tumor-suppressor function in neuroblastoma. Cancer Discov, 4(4), 434-451.
10. Jain, S. R., Sui, Y., Ng, C. H., Chen, Z. X., Goh, L. H., and Shorey, S. (2020). Patients’ and healthcare professionals’ perspectives towards technology-assisted diabetes self-management education. A qualitative systematic review. PLoS One, 15(8), doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237647
11. Chen, Z. X., Lee, S. S., Samarasekera, D. D., and Stalmeijer, R. (2020). Inter-related issues that impact motivation in biomedical sciences graduate education. TAPS, 5(3), 10-19. doi.org/10.29060/TAPS.2020-5-3/OA2113
12. Luke, W. A. N. V., Lee, S. C., Ban, K. H. K., Wong, A. H. P., Chen, Z. X., Lee, S. S., Taneja, R., Samarasekera, D. D., Yap, C. T. S. M. (2024). Is ChatGPT ‘ready’ to be a learning tool for medical undergraduates and will it perform equally in different subjects? – Comparative study of ChatGPT performance in tutorial and case-based learning questions in Physiology and Biochemistry. Med Teach, Jan 31:1-7. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2024.2308779. Online ahead of print.
13. Lee, S. S., Indran, I. R., Yap, C. T., Samarasekera, D. D., Wong, S. J. Y., and Chen, Z. X. (2022). Enhancing the use of peer review and student feedback to evaluate educators in early years of health professions education: insights from a medical school. Singapore Med J, May 5. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2022051. Online ahead of print.
14. Gwee, M. C. E., Samarasekera, D. D., and Chen, Z. X. (2021). Curriculum Organisation: ‘Why Can’t I Just Teach What I Know?’. In D. D. Samarasekera (Ed.) and M. C. E. Gwee (Ed.), Educate, Train and Transform: Toolkit on Medical and Health Professions Education (pp. 15-32). Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific.