Ding-Shinn Chen (Chinese: 陳定信; pinyin: Chén Dìngxìn; 6 July 1943 – 24 June 2020) was a Taiwanese hepatologist.

He was born on 6 July 1943,^[1] in what became Yingge District, New Taipei City.^[2] Chen's mother became sick when he was a child, and needed surgical intervention.^[2] As such, Chen was around medical professionals at a young age, which sparked his interest in the field.^[2] Upon high school graduation, Chen was accepted into the National Taiwan University College of Medicine.^[2] During his fourth year of medical school, Chen's father died of liver cancer, inspiring him to study hepatology.^[3] He completed medical studies in 1968.^[4] Chen became a resident at National Taiwan University Hospital and later joined the NTU medical faculty, working closely with Sung Juei-low [zh].^[5][6] Chen and Sung advocated for widespread preventative measures against hepatitis B, resulting in the establishment of a mass vaccination program in 1984.^[7] Chen specialized in liver disease research,^[8][9] namely hepatitis.^[10][11] His research earned Chen the nickname Liver King (肝帝; gāndì), which, pronounced in Mandarin, is homophonous to Gandhi.^[12]

In 1991, Chen was elected a member of Academia Sinica.^[13] In 2001 he was appointed dean of NTU's College of Medicine.^[14] That same year, he became a fellow of The World Academy of Sciences.^[15] In 2002, Chen traveled to Malawi to deliver medical textbooks.^[16] During the 2003 SARS outbreak, Chen worked closely with Michael M. C. Lai on research into vaccinations against the disease.^[13][17] In 2005, Chen was elected a foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences.^[18][19] Chen stepped down as dean in 2007.^[14] He was the 2009 recipient of the International Recognition Award presented by the European Association for the Study of the Liver.^[4] Chen won the 2010 Nikkei Asia Prize in science and technology.^[20][21] In 2012, Chen spoke in support of decriminalizing medical malpractice.^[22] He favored granting Chen Shui-bian medical parole in 2014.^[23] In 2018, Chen was awarded Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon.^[24] That same year, Chen received the Baruch S. Blumberg Prize from the Hepatitis B Foundation.^[25]

Chen died at the National Taiwan University Hospital on 24 June 2020 from pancreatic cancer, aged 76.^[7][26]