Initiating the Search for the Next Chair of the Department of Cancer Biology
November 19, 2025
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to thank Lewis A. Chodosh, M.D., Ph.D., Perelman Professor in Cancer Biology, for his exceptional leadership as Chair of the Department of Cancer Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Over the past seventeen years, Dr. Chodosh has guided the Department through a period of remarkable growth and achievement.
Under his leadership, the Department has evolved into one of the nation’s top programs in cancer biology, fostering an environment that promotes excellence in discovery, mentorship, and education. The Department now encompasses 19 tenure-track faculty, more than 120 faculty, trainees, and staff, and a thriving research enterprise that bridges the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC), and numerous interdisciplinary collaborations across Penn.
Dr. Chodosh has also played a key role in expanding the Department’s strengths in tumor microenvironment, genome integrity, cancer metabolism, and oncogenic signaling, while establishing innovative translational partnerships such as the 2-PREVENT Translational Center of Excellence. His mentorship has shaped the careers of countless scientists and trainees, and his commitment to scientific rigor and collaboration has profoundly strengthened Penn Medicine’s cancer research mission.
With the completion of his term as Chair, Dr. Chodosh will continue to lead his thriving research program. Most recently, his work, in collaboration with Dr. Angela DeMichele, M.D., M.S.C.E., and their multidisciplinary team, was part of a decade-long effort to understand why breast cancer recurrence after therapy is all too common, sometimes many years after the initial disease. Their newly developed medical intervention reduced recurrence of breast cancer and, if replicated in larger randomized trials, will save lives.
We will initiate a search for a new department chair, with David Mankoff, M.D, Ph.D., leading the search committee. We welcome the feedback and recommendations of our community during this process. Questions or input can be sent to evpdean@upenn.edu or to any of the search committee members listed below, whom we thank for their time and service.
Thank you,
Jon Epstein, M.D., Dean
Lisa Bellini, M.D., MACP, Executive Vice Dean
E. Michael Ostap, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
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Chair |
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David A. Mankoff, MD, PhD Professor and Vice Chair of Research, Department of Radiology Associate Director of Education and Research, ACC |
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Members |
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Charles S. Abrams, MD Francis C. Wood Professor Vice Chair for Research and Chief Scientific Officer, Department of Medicine |
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Ravi K. Amaravadi, MD Tara Miller Professor of Melanoma Research and Patient Care Associate Director, Translational Research, ACC |
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Michael R. Betts, PhD Professor of Microbiology |
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Constantinos Koumenis, PhD Richard H. Chamberlain Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Radiation Oncology |
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Kathy Fange Liu, PhD Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics |
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Qi Long, PhD Professor & Vice Chair of Faculty Professional Development, Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics Associate Director for Quantitative Data Science, ACC |
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Katherine L. Nathanson, MD Pearl Basser Professor for BRCA-Related Research & Deputy Director, ACC |
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James L. Riley, PhD Professor of Microbiology |
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Doris A. Stoffers, MD, PhD Sylvan H. Eisman Professor of Medicine Director, Islet Cell Biology Core, Penn Diabetes Research Center Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism |
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Matthew D. Weitzman, PhD Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Co-Director, Division of Protective Immunity Associate Chief Scientific Officer, CHOP Research Institute |