Assistant Professor & Neurological Surgery
Bio
Peiwen Chen, PhD, is an Associate Staff in the Department of Cancer Biology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, and Associate Professor of Molecular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of CWRU. With the support from the Italian Cariparo Foundation, Dr. Chen pursued his PhD studies at the University of Padova, where he revealed the role of extracellular matrix protein collagen VI in the nervous system, macrophage biology, and hair follicle growth. He joined MD Anderson Cancer Center as a postdoc fellow to study the biology of myeloid cells, including macrophages and microglia, in glioblastoma. Dr. Chen moved to Cleveland Clinic from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where he was a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery. Dr. Chen’s lab focuses on studying tumor-immune symbiotic interactions and developing novel immunotherapies in primary (e.g., glioblastoma) and metastatic (e.g., brain metastatic breast cancer) brain cancers.
The most common metastasis of breast cancer is to the brain. Current therapies are not meaningfully improving survival. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in breast cancer usually display an alternatively activated (M2-like) phenotype, which suppresses antitumor immunity and aids in metastasis, including brain metastasis. Therefore, reprogramming TAMs from M2-to M1-like phenotype could be a promising therapeutic approach for metastatic breast cancer. However, the molecular basis governing macrophage reprogramming during breast cancer brain metastasis remains elusive and there is no effective approach to reprogram TAMs in the tumor microenvironment. We propose to employ integrated strategies to reveal whether and how TAM reprogramming contributes to breast cancer brain metastasis. We also plan to determine how TAM reprogramming can work with immune checkpoint inhibitors to suppress brain metastasis of breast cancer.
Peiwen Chen, PhD
Lurie Cancer Center of Northwestern University
Newly funded researchers pursuing high-risk, high-reward breast cancer studies in their first or second academic positions.
Past
Early Investigator
Abde Abukhdeir, PhD
The molecular variants that lead or contribute to drug resistance in breast cancer
Past
Early Investigator
Nan Chen, MD
Discovering novel biomarkers of therapy response and resistance in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients
Past
Early Investigator
Dr. Chonghui Cheng
Alternative Splicing and Breast Cancer Metastasis
Why your gift matters
Your gift helps researchers test bold ideas, generate critical data, and take the first steps toward the next major advancement in breast cancer treatment and care.Together, we can accelerate discoveries that save lives.
