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Elena Chen, MD

  • Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Elena Chen, MD is a Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She completed her residency in general pediatrics at Children's Medical Center-Dallas/University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center and her pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago/McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University. 

She is dedicated to providing equitable, evidence-based, compassionate clinical care to all who present to the pediatric emergency department. Her academic interests include clinical research investigating drivers of hypoxemia in children who wheeze, management of first time wheeze in the ED and wheezing in children < 24 months old. She is also interested in point-of-care-ultrasound (POCUS), specifically its role in screening for cardiac dysfunction in pediatric patients. She serves as POCUS faculty for the division of pediatric emergency medicine. 

Dr. Chen is also interested in patient safety and quality improvement, specifcally optimizing and improving care for critically ill children requiring resuscitation and/or advanced respiratory support. 

Professional Affiliations

American Academy of Pediatrics

Society of Academic Emergency Medicine

Education & Training

  • BA, Mathematics, Biological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States 2013
  • MD, Texas A&M College of Medicine, Bryan, Texas, United States 2019
  • Residency, General Pediatrics, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States 2019 - 2022
  • Fellowship, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Lurie Children's Hospital, Chicago, United States 2022 - 2025

Selected Publications

Chen, E., Ramgopal, S., Lorenz, D., Jone, P.N., Horowitz, R.(2025). Use of e-point septal separation to screen for left ventricular function in children. Am J Emerg Med. 99:39-45. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2025.09.013. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40972483.

Morris, W. Z., Liu, R. W., Chen, E., & Kim, H. K. (2019). Analysis of Trabecular Microstructure and Vascular Distribution of Capital Femoral Epiphysis Relevant to Legg–Calve–Perthes Disease. Journal of Orthopaedic Research®, 37(8), 1784-1789.

Chiruvolu, A., Miklis, K. K., Chen, E., Petrey, B., & Desai, S. (2018). Delivery room management of meconium-stained newborns and respiratory support. Pediatrics, 142(6).

Kuroyanagi, G., Adapala, N. S., Yamaguchi, R., Kamiya, N., Deng, Z., Aruwajoye, O., Kutschke, M., Chen, E., Jo, C., Ren, Y.,& Kim, H. K. (2018). Interleukin-6 deletion stimulates revascularization and new bone formation following ischemic osteonecrosis in a murine model. Bone, 116, 221-231.

Kamiya, N., Yamaguchi, R., Adapala, N. S., Chen, E., Neal, D., Jack, O., Thoveson, A., Gudmundsson, P., Brabham, C., Aruwajoye, O., Drissi, H.,& Kim, H. K. (2015). Legg‐Calve‐Perthes disease produces chronic hip synovitis and elevation of interleukin‐6 in the synovial fluid. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 30(6), 1009-1013.

Kim, H. K., Wiesman, K. D., Kulkarni, V., Burgess, J., Chen, E., Brabham, C., Ikram, H., Du, J., Lu, A., Kulkarni, A., Dempsey, M., & Herring, J. A. (2014). Perfusion MRI in early stage of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease to predict lateral pillar involvement: a preliminary study. JBJS, 96(14), 1152-1160.

Wang, R., Mikoryak, C., Chen, E., Li, S., Pantano, P., & Draper, R. K. (2009). Gel electrophoresis method to measure the concentration of single-walled carbon nanotubes extracted from biological tissue. Analytical chemistry, 81(8), 2944-2952.