Qing Chen Qing Chen
Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus
20032024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Personal profile

Qing Chen, MD, PhD, has joined Fox Chase Cancer Center as an Assistant Professor in the Cancer Signaling and Microenvironment Program. Chen joins Fox Chase from the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, where she was an Assistant Professor in the Genome Regulation and Cell Signaling Program at the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center and Scientific Director of the Imaging Facility.

The Cancer Signaling and Microenvironment Program studies signaling processes, their cancer cell-intrinsic adaptation, and how they are affected by extrinsic cell-to-cell communication components of the microenvironment. The program aims to better understand cancer biology by viewing cancer cells and their environment, aiding in the creation of new strategies for attenuating these signals, and helping serve patients.

Chen received her medical degree and a Master of Science degree in molecular neurobiology from Capital University of Medical Sciences in Beijing. She went on to earn a doctorate in immunology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Chen also completed postdoctoral fellowships at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Chen’s research explores cancer metastasis by investigating the spread of cancer cells to the brain. It focuses on the interactions between cancer cells and the unique cells of the brain microenvironment. The goal of her lab is to discover mechanisms that could lead to effective therapies for brain metastasis.

Chen has earned several honors throughout her career, including the Melanoma Research Program Idea Award from the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Cancer Institute Transition Career Development Award, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Sponsored Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Award.

Research interests

Lab Overview

Brain metastasis is the most ominous form of cancer relapse. Unfortunately, most cancer therapies have shown limited efficacy in brain metastasis. To form metastatic tumors, cancer cells need to survive and adapt to the microenvironment in distal organs. Due to the unique brain microenvironment, we consider brain metastasis as a different disease from extracranial tumors. Chen lab studies the complex interplay between the metastatic cancer cells and the unique brain cells. Our idea is that once we know how the brain microenvironment facilitates metastasis, we can focus our efforts on stopping it. Moreover, we are trying to understand how the standard cancer therapies change the brain stromal cells to facilitate the metastatic outgrowth. Overall, our research proposal aims to yield real and actionable targets on the brain microenvironment, instead of on cancer cells. The ultimate goal is to identify new therapeutic targets and increase the therapeutic efficacy in brain metastasis patients.

Research interests

  • Brain metastasis 
  • Tumor microenvironment 
  • Breast cancer Melanoma 
  • Novel therapeutic targets 
  • Preclinical brain metastasis models

Ongoing/Future Projects

  • Immune microenvironment in brain metastasis
  • Therapeutic responses in brain metastasis associated stromal cells
  • Preconditioned brain microenvironment by primary tumors
  • Spatial and temporal interactions between cancer and brain stromal cells
  • Brain metastasis immunotherapies
  • Brain metastasis PDX

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