Fox Chase Fellow Wins Young Investigator Award from Kidney Cancer Association

PHILADELPHIA, PA (April 27, 2017) – Pooja Ghatalia, MD, a fellow in the Department of Hematology/Oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center, has been awarded the Kidney Cancer Association Young Investigator Award. The award comes with a $50,000 grant, which Ghatalia will use to fund her proposed study entitled, “Characterization of Tumor Infiltrating Immune Cells and Development of Immune Gene Signature in Localized Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.” 

The study is a continuation of work Ghatalia began during her medical residency. Her goal is to develop an immune gene signature to predict which patients with localized renal cancer may experience a recurrence. This marker would also help identify patients who might benefit from neoadjuvant immunotherapy for localized renal cancer.

“We are delighted for Pooja, and know this will be one of many awards she will earn as she builds a career treating and studying kidney cancer,” said Elizabeth Plimack, MD, chief of genitourinary medical oncology at Fox Chase, and a mentor to Ghatalia.

In 2016 Ghatalia presented an oral abstract at the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. She is in the second year of a three-year fellowship at Fox Chase, and plans to specialize in renal cell carcinoma.  

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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