Academic/Professional Titles
Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery - Department of Surgery
Associate Director of Surgical Education
Surgery Clerkship Director - David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Clinical Director - Lichtenstein Amid Hernia Clinic at UCLA
Associate Professor - Department of Palliative Care
David Chen, MD, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Professor of Clinical Surgery at the David Geffen School Medicine at UCLA, is the Director of the Lichtenstein Amid Hernia Institute. He was directly trained by Dr. Amid in modern Lichtenstein technique, complex hernia management and repair, and operative remediation of hernia pain. He is an international expert in open, laparoscopic, and robotic techniques for complex hernia repair, abdominal wall reconstruction, and foregut and hiatal hernia surgery, with an emphasis on post-operative chronic pain. He is recognized as one of the preeminent leaders in the field through his clinical experience, research, lectures, and publications on hernia repair and chronic pain after hernia surgery with over 250 lectures and live surgeries, 53 peer reviewed publications and 44 book chapters. He is the current president-elect of the Americas Hernia Society and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. Dr. Chen is focused on treatment, education and research for repair of hernias, advanced minimally invasive techniques for abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia repair, repair of diaphragmatic and hiatal hernias, and surgery for chronic pain, mesh complications, and nerve entrapment.