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Jin Chen, M.D., Ph.D.

  • Leader, Cancer Cell Biology Research Program
  • Professor of Medicine
  • Professor of Cell and Development Biology
  • Director of Graduate Studies in Cancer Biology

Phone

615-343-3819

Email

jin.chen@vanderbilt.edu
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
T-3219 Medical Center North
Nashville, TN 37232-2681

Jin Chen, M.D., Ph.D.

  • Leader, Cancer Cell Biology Research Program
  • Professor of Medicine
  • Professor of Cell and Development Biology
  • Director of Graduate Studies in Cancer Biology

615-343-3819

jin.chen@vanderbilt.edu

Vanderbilt University Medical Center
T-3219 Medical Center North
Nashville, TN 37232-2681

Profile

Dr. Jin Chen is a professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She holds joint appointments as Professor of Cancer Biology and Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology, and is a member of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Her laboratory performed pioneering studies on determining EphA2 receptor function in tumor initiation, metastatic progression and tumor angiogenesis. Dr. Chen's laboratory is currently funded by grants from National Cancer Institute, Department of Defense, and Department of Veterans Affairs. She regularly serves on grant review panels at the National Institute of Health, American Cancer Society, and Department of Defense. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors at Cancer Biology Training Consortium (CABTRAC).

Education

  • 1984 M.D., Shanghai First Medical College, China
  • 1991 Ph.D., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
  • 1992 Fellow, MIT, Cambridge, MA
  • 1993-1996 Fellow, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Research Emphasis

tumor immunology, tumor metabolism, tumor angiogenesis, cancer metastasis, receptor tyrosine kinase, EphA2, mTOR signaling

Research Description

Dr. Chen’s investigations funded by NIH R01s are (1) tumor-blood vessel interaction, and (2) how tumor cell metabolism affects anti-tumor immunity. Her laboratory first pioneered work on the role of EphA2 receptor in tumor neovascularization and showed that endothelial-specific EphA2 also controls tumor growth by regulation of angiocrine factors through a circulation-independent mechanism. As mTOR kinase is a signaling node for multiple angiogenic factors, one of her current projects is to dissect the relative contribution of mTORC1 and mTORC2 in tumor blood vessels. Her team also discovered that EphA2 RTK promotes glutamine metabolism via the glutamine transporter ASCT2 and glutaminase GLS in a YAP and TAZ-dependent manner. Knockout GLS in tumor cells provides a favorable microenvironment for anti-tumor T cell recruitment and function.

The approach in the Chen laboratory involves a combination of mining human cancer datasets, CRISPR/Cas9 technology-enabled and traditional transgenic/ knockout animal tumor models, as well as conventional cell biology and biochemistry techniques.

Current projects in the lab include:

1. Glutamine metabolic competition between cancer cells and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer.
2. Regulation of fatty acid transendothelial transport by mTOR signaling in tumor blood vessel.
3. Targeting mTORC2 in squamous lung cancer and enhancing antitumor immunity.
4. SgRNA library screen for metabolic genes that regulate cancer metastasis and antitumor immunity.
5. EphA2 RTK in bone metastasis.






Publications

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