Based in Chevy Chase, Maryland, David Chen, MD, maintains a clinical medicine private practice that focuses on general and child and adolescent psychiatry. A respected voice in his field, psychiatrist David Chen, MD, undertook genetic analysis research with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with an emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of early-onset bipolar disorder, as well as co-morbid addiction and impulse control disorders.

In addition to these endeavors, Dr. Chen pursued wet-lab research centered on aspects of molecular genetics such as genotyping and next-generation sequencing. From 2011 to 2014, he was active as a fellow within the NIH Intramural Research Program at the Human Genetics Branch and collaborated with the Bipolar Genetics Study Consortium. Dr. Chen worked to advance collaborative bipolar research funding and scientific information sharing activities. He subsequently chaired the Committee on Continuing Medical Education at the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis for five years. In addition to his work as Chevy Chase-based psychiatrist, he serves as an ambassador with the NIH Loan Repayment Program.

Extensively published in his field, David Chen, MD, authored the paper “Genome-wide association study meta-analysis of European and Asian-ancestry samples identifies three novel loci associated with bipolar disorder” (Molecular Psychiatry, 2011). Dr. Chen’s work brought a novel focus to inherited risk through meta-analysis that spanned 14,000 subjects and 750,000 high-quality genetic markers, resulting in the discovery of the bipolar risk genes TRANK1, LMAN2L, and PTGFR.

David Chen MD