Dr. Karen Shen joined the Division of Hospital Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine as an Instructor in June of 2020. She completed her undergraduate training at Swarthmore College in 2011 with a double major in Mathematics and Physics. She received her medical degree in 2017 from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. Dr. Shen completed her residency training at Barnes-Jewish Hospital / Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis prior to joining the division in 2020.
Dr. Shen has had varied research interests and participated in many projects during her training. She worked as a research assistant at Baylor College of Medicine from 2011 to 2013 studying the effect of infection on hematopoietic stem cells. During medical school, she participated in improving end-of-life care for Taiwanese patients and studying the quality of colonoscopy done by mid-level providers such as physician assistants with the hope to broaden colonoscopy availability. In clinical practice, Dr. Shen is dedicated to reaching out and providing care for the underserved. She served as the coordinator for the Students Teaching AIDS to Students program while in medical school and volunteered at the Gateway Homeless Center during residency. She also researched and published on the stigma of hepatitis B among men who have sex with men in China as part of the Global Health Pathway / Mentors in Medicine program.
Outside of medicine, Dr. Shen enjoys traveling the world, cooking, playing piano/flute, and spending time with friends and family. Her hometown is Taipei, Taiwan.