Siddharth Balachandran Receives NIH Grant to Study Age-Related Inflammation and Injury

Siddarth Balachandran will collaborate with researchers at Tufts University on work related to the RIPK3 enzyme.
Siddarth Balachandran will collaborate with researchers at Tufts University on work related to the RIPK3 enzyme.

PHILADELPHIA (February 7, 2019) — Siddharth Balachandran, PhD, co-leader of the Blood Cell Development and Function Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, was recently awarded a grant from the National Institute on Aging to conduct research on the process of cell death as a response to external trauma or disease. The grant will provide $258,949 in funding over one year.

Balachandran will collaborate with researchers at Tufts University on work related to the RIPK3 enzyme. He will serve as co-investigator on the research, with responsibility for coordinating the evaluation of pro-inflammatory biomarkers in patient samples, and interpreting study results. The principal investigator is Alexei Degterev, PhD, associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. Gregory Cuny, PhD, associate professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Houston, is the third co-investigator on the project.

The researchers will conduct both in vitro and in vivo studies to examine the ways in which mechanisms of programmed cell death influence the course of influenza, atherosclerosis, and lung disease during aging.

Fox Chase Cancer Center (Fox Chase), which includes the Institute for Cancer Research and the American Oncologic Hospital and is a part of Temple Health, is one of the leading comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase is also one of just 10 members of the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center’s nursing program has received the Magnet recognition for excellence six consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. It is the policy of Fox Chase Cancer Center that there shall be no exclusion from, or participation in, and no one denied the benefits of, the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment.

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