Dr. Qing Chen leads her team down the most challenging path in cancer research

Not all cancer research is the same and some areas of research require so much effort, attention to detail, trial and error, and dedication that most scientists would shy away to pursue other projects. Fortunately, Dr. Qing Chen of the Wistar Institute does not shy away from any challenge. Dr. Chen trained as a medical doctor in China but, after med school, became fascinated with the research side of medicine. “I felt like there were a lot of diseases that we don’t know the mechanisms, which is why we don’t know the cures.” She began researching cancer for her Ph.D., then continued her work in New York City. It was in the Big Apple that Dr. Chen decided to study one of the most complex and difficult areas in cancer research: brain metastasis.

Legacy of Hope’s Scientific Review Board selected Dr. Chen’s incredible research among 100s of other projects because of its promise to yield tangible results in the near future. In September 2019, Dr. Chen received the Legacy of Hope Merit Award for her work, as well as $15,000 in funding to continue her research. I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Chen to learn more about her projects and get her insights into the unique field of brain metastasis research.

“There is not enough research on brain metastasis, even though it causes so much drama for patients. There is almost no therapy to treat this disease, there is barely any information in databases for brain cancer,” Dr. Chen explains. The goal of her research is to pave new roads in controlling the spread of cancers to the brain, a condition that causes intense complications and is frequently a terminal diagnosis.