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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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Brain metastasis patient-derived xenograft models to characterize the contribution of brain microenvironment to metastatic outgrowth
Oliveira-Nunes, M. C., Ma, W., Mao, C., S. Huo, B., Rios Angulo, A., Landa Bianchi, G., Ray, P. & Chen, Q., Jan 1 2025, In: Neuro-Oncology Advances. 7, 1, p. vdaf239 vdaf239.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
ACSS1-dependent acetate utilization rewires mitochondrial metabolism to support AML and melanoma tumor growth and metastasis
Hlavaty, S. I., Salcido, K. N., Pniewski, K. A., Mukha, D., Ma, W., Kannan, T., Cassel, J., Srikanth, Y. V. V., Liu, Q., Kossenkov, A., Salvino, J. M., Chen, Q. & Schug, Z. T., Dec 24 2024, In: Cell Reports. 43, 12, p. 114988 114988.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
7 Scopus citations -
Tmem119 expression is downregulated in a subset of brain metastasis-associated microglia
Ma, W., Oswald, J., Rios Angulo, A. & Chen, Q., Feb 2 2024, In: BMC Neuroscience. 25, 1, p. 6Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access6 Scopus citations -
A distinct pattern of growth and RAC1 signaling in melanoma brain metastasis cells
Stejerean-Todoran, I., Gimotty, P. A., Watters, A., Brafford, P., Krepler, C., Godok, T., Li, H., Bonilla Del Rio, Z., Zieseniss, A., Katschinski, D. M., Sertel, S. M., Rizzoli, S. O., Garman, B., Nathanson, K. L., Xu, X., Chen, Q., Oswald, J. H., Lotem, M., Mills, G. B. & Davies, M. A. & 4 others, , Apr 1 2023, In: Neuro-Oncology. 25, 4, p. 674-686 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access6 Scopus citations -
Patient-derived melanoma organoid models facilitate the assessment of immunotherapies
Ou, L., Liu, S., Wang, H., Guo, Y., Guan, L., Shen, L., Luo, R., Elder, D. E., Huang, A. C., Karakousis, G., Miura, J., Mitchell, T., Schuchter, L., Amaravadi, R., Flowers, A., Mou, H., Yi, F., Guo, W., Ko, J. & Chen, Q. & 3 others, , Jun 2023, In: Ebiomedicine. 92, p. 104614 104614.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
53 Scopus citations
Press/Media
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Wistar Scientists Explore Importance of Microglia Marker in Metastasized Brain Tumor Microenvironment
03/29/24
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media