Dr. Monica Chen

Monica F. Chen, MD

Melanoma Medical Oncologist & Early Drug Development Specialist

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Melanoma

My Specialties

  • Early-phase clinical trials
Dr. Chen's Office Information
Languages: English
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Get to Know Me

I am a medical oncologist who specializes in the treatment of melanoma with expertise in early-phase clinical trials. I see patients at Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion in Manhattan and at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth in New Jersey.

My path to becoming an oncologist began when my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. I know first-hand how devastating a cancer diagnosis can be for a person and their loved ones. I quickly learned how confusing and rushed medical interactions can feel. I became an oncologist because I wanted the opportunity to counsel and guide people like my grandmother, through one of the most difficult periods in their lives.

I aim to get to know my patients on a personal level and partner with them to design treatment plans individualized to each patient’s needs and the unique characteristics of the type of cancer they have been diagnosed with. People who come for their first appointment are often fearful about the many unknowns that come with cancer: What does this diagnosis mean? What treatments are available to me? How will the treatment make me feel? How will it affect my loved ones?

I try to help my patients understand all options. Together with an exceptional multidisciplinary team, I work to bring cutting-edge therapies to the clinic with the goal of ending cancer for life. My research focuses on developing the next generation of targeted therapies and immunotherapies, particularly for patients with brain metastasis. Many FDA-approved therapies for patients were developed by our team including the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo ®) and ipilimumab (Yervoy ®), selpercatinib (Retevmo ®), and trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu®).

When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with loved ones, cooking, traveling, and hiking.

 

What I Do at MSK

I'm a melanoma medical oncologist, which is a cancer doctor who specializes in melanoma. This includes superficial spreading, nodular, lentigo maligna, and acral lentiginous melanomas. It also includes eye, mucosal, and rare skin melanomas.

I'm an early drug development specialist, which is a scientist who tests new drugs to treat cancer. I have special training in research studies, also known as clinical trials.

  • Assistant Attending Physician
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Melanoma

My Specialties

  • Early-phase clinical trials
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, University of California Los Angeles

Residencies

  • Internal Medicine, NewYork Presbyterian-Columbia University

Fellowships

  • Medical Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Awards and Honors

  • Conquer Cancer Foundation Merit Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (2024)
  • Conquer Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (2023)
  • Dr. Joseph N. Muschel Housestaff Award, Columbia University (2020)
  • David Geffen Merit Scholar (2014-2018)

Insurance Information

Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.

Don't see your carrier or plan? We can help you understand your coverage.

If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

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Current Patients
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Contact and Location

Office Phone
Location
Middletown, NJ
New York, NY
Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth
480 Red Hill Road Middletown NJ 07748
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Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion
160 East 53rd Street New York NY 10022
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Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Early Drug Development Service doctors

See all Melanoma Service doctors

Clinical Trials

Smiling doctors in the lab
Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

Search clinical trials

Research and Publications

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Chen’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Members of the MSK Community often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community. These activities outside of MSK further our mission, provide productive collaborations, and promote the practical application of scientific discoveries.

MSK requires doctors, faculty members, and leaders to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public. Not all disclosed interests and relationships present conflicts of interest. MSK reviews all disclosed interests and relationships to assess whether a conflict of interest exists and whether formal COI management is needed.

Monica F. Chen discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Doximity, Inc.
    Equity
  • FIGS, Inc.
    Equity
  • Novo Nordisk
    Equity

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2024 through disclosure submission in spring 2025). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.


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