Regenerative Biology of the Spine and Spinal Cord

Rahul Jandial, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery at City of Hope Cancer Center and the Beckman Research Institute in Los Angeles, California. His clinical practice focuses on the surgical and medical care for patients with brain and spinal cancer. In the laboratory his team investigates molecular and cellular approaches for improving brain tumor treatment, as well as the use of stem cell biology for spinal regeneration. A prolific author and teacher, Jandial has authored/edited 8 books and over 40 papers. He lives with his wife Danielle and their sons Zain, Kai and Ronak.

Mike Y. Chen, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Neurosurgery at City of Hope Cancer Center and the Beckman Research Institute in Los Angeles, California. He was educated at Pennsylvania State University (BS), Thomas Jefferson Medical School (MD), John Hopkins University (MS, Bioengineering), John Hopkins Hospital (internship), National Institutes of Health (fellowship), and Virginia Commonwealth University (neurosurgery residency and PhD). His clinical practice and laboratory research are aimed at developing novel surgical, molecular and genetic therapies for cancer of the brain and spine. He is married to a Southern belle, Valerie, and has two mischievous daughters.