Xiaodan Qin, PhD, Receives Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholar Award

Xiaodan Qin, PhD, a research scientist in the Feng Lab in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, has been awarded a $400,000 Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholar Award from The Warren Alpert Foundation.

The Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholars program supports postdoctoral researchers advancing to a full-time faculty member and assists in developing a laboratory program that will lead to independent funding. With this award, Qin will study neuroblastoma, a common extracranial solid tumor that is responsible for about 15% of cancer-related deaths in children. Specifically, she will use the zebrafish model to identify the molecular underpinnings promoting tumor immunosuppression and to evaluate their suitability as novel therapeutic targets.

Qin hopes to test currently available antibodies as more effective treatments with fewer toxicities for children with neuroblastoma, and potentially other types of neuronal cancers. Her long-term research goals focus on the elucidation of molecular mechanisms through which tumor cells escape immunosurveillance, and the development of an effective immunotherapeutic for cancer treatment.