Dong Ren, MD, PhD

2026 F. Stephen Vogel Award

Dr. Dong Ren is currently a PGY4 resident in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He completed his medical degree, PhD, and postdoctoral training in China, as well as a joint PhD training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He is currently completing his residency training in anatomic and clinical pathology at UCI and will pursue fellowship training in Genitourinary Pathology and Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Ren’s research career began in 2010 during his PhD training at the Sun Yat-sen University in China, where he focused on elucidating the mechanisms of prostate cancer bone metastasis and identifying diagnostic biomarkers for early detection of metastatic bone disease. Following postdoctoral training in 2018, he established and led a research team as a principal investigator, mentoring Ph.D. students and postdocs, overseeing laboratory operations, and securing six national, state, and university-level grants totaling $439,000. During this period, his research efforts resulted in more than 30 peer-reviewed publications. In addition, he has been actively engaged in peer review, serving as a Section Editor or Guest Editor for seven special journal issues and as a reviewer for over 600 manuscripts.

During residency, Dr. Ren has continued his strong commitment to research, with a primary focus on the molecular characterization of sinonasal mucosal melanoma and genitourinary soft tissue tumors, including inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors of the bladder in the pediatric and adult patients. He has secured four national and departmental grants totaling $20,000 to support these projects and has published an additional 30 peer-reviewed articles.

To date, Dr. Ren has authored 67 peer-reviewed publications in prestigious journals, including Journal of Experimental Medicine, Molecular Cancer, Clinical and Translational Medicine, British Journal of Cancer, and Theranostics, among others. These publications have garnered over 3600 citations from peers in similar fields, resulting in an H-index of 35. His long-term career goal is to become a physician-scientist who can integrate molecular research with diagnostic pathology to advance precision diagnostics and prognostication in human disease.