PHILADELPHIA (February 9, 2024) — Fox Chase Cancer Center is pleased to announce the hiring of Yash Chhabra, PhD, as an Assistant Professor in the Cancer Signaling and Microenvironment Research Program, where he will focus on the influence of sex disparity in cancer and aging.
Chhabra will be joining Fox Chase from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where his research focused on determining vulnerabilities in targeting the aging tumor microenvironment in melanoma. “Microenvironment” refers to the different cell types in the immediate vicinity of cancer cells that play a key role in the growth and metastasis ability of tumors, as well as in preventing antitumor immunity, deterring the effectiveness of various drugs, and more.
At Fox Chase, Chhabra will investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the sex disparity in cancer progression and therapeutic responses and how they are affected with aging. The clinical implications of this research will highlight the need for stratifying available treatments and developing therapeutic programs based on the age and sex of patients.
More importantly, the research will shed light on utilization of preclinical models across different ages and across both sexes. Currently, these models are overtly reliant on the use of young male mouse models.
Chhabra received his Master of Science and doctorate degrees from The University of Queensland, Australia. Prior to his work at Johns Hopkins, Chhabra was a postdoctoral researcher in cytokine receptor and melanoma biology at The University of Queensland Frazer Institute and at the School of Biomedical Sciences in Australia from 2015 through 2020.
Chhabra has published over 20 articles in different research areas such as biochemistry, genetics, and cellular and molecular biology in journals such as Cell, Nature, Nature Aging, and Clinical Cancer Research. He has also served as a manuscript reviewer for several journals, including Nature Communications, Cell Reports, and Cancer Research.
Chhabra has an extensive history of research supervision and mentorship for students and trainees and has won numerous awards and prizes while presenting his research both nationally and internationally. He is also a member of several professional societies, including the American Association for Cancer Research, the European Association for Cancer Research, the Society for Melanoma Research, and the Growth Hormone Research Society.
Chhabra began his tenure at Fox Chase on February 5.