Chen Zhao, MD

Assistant Clinical Investigator
Thoracic and GI Malignancies Branch

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Although immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown encouraging results in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma, the response rate and overall survival are still low, especially in patients with low PD-L1 expression in the tumor site. Existing evidence suggests that interactions involving lung cancer cells, microbes, and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment affect tumor progression and patients’ responses to treatments. Therefore, the discovery of new therapeutic targets and more effective immunotherapies requires a deeper understanding of these complex interactions, especially in the tissue context rather than as isolated elements. However, traditional investigation methods, such as flow cytometry and low-plex histology, lack the ability to measure cells, mediators, and the microbiota simultaneously while also collecting critical spatial information. To address this gap in our knowledge, we have been using advanced tissue imaging and spatial-transcriptomic analysis to investigate the complex interactions in the tumor microenvironment from patients with lung cancer. We also developed genetically engineered mouse models of lung adenocarcinoma and myeloid-specific knock-in mice to validate our hypotheses generated from imaging analysis. We are looking for young investigators interested in 1) single-cell resolution spatial-transcriptomic analysis; 2) dendritic cell-T cell interactions in lung cancer.

Suggested Penn mentors: Chengcheng Jin