Jen-Tsan Chi, MD, PhD

Dr. Chi is a physician-scientist and a co-director of the Cancer Biology Research Program at Duke Cancer Institute. He has a long-term research interest in the stress adaption and metabolism of cancer cells. Recently, he has been working on the determinants of ferroptosis, a newly recognized form of cell death that is characterized by iron dependency and lipid peroxidation. Previously, his lab identified the profound cystine addiction of renal cell carcinoma, breast cancer cells, and ovarian cancer cells. Based on the concept that cystine deprivation triggers ferroptosis due to the unopposed oxidative stresses, has lab has performed functional genomic screens to identify many novel genetic determinants of ferroptosis, including DNA damage response, cell density, and metastasis. The current award will allow Dr. Chi and his lab members to understand novel environmental determinants of ferroptosis for ovarian cancers and their roles in the metastatic ovarian cancer.