By Michael Schug
August 30, 2023
Dr. Shen, glioblastoma researcher, joins IU and cancer center
A researcher who focuses on glioblastoma has joined Indiana University and the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Jia Shen, PhD, is an assistant professor of medical and molecular genetics at IU School of Medicine and a researcher at the cancer center. He is based in Bloomington.
His recruit to IU was made possible, in part, by philanthropy. An initial gift from the Jack, John, and Jeff Schwarz family provided a significant portion of his recruitment package. In addition, several friends of Jeff Schwarz made generous gifts to help entice Dr. Shen to join the IU team.
“We are grateful to the Schwarz family for their investment in accelerating cancer research,” Kelvin Lee, MD, director of the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, said. “Philanthropy really does fuel research, and this is an excellent example of that. Dr. Shen brings critical expertise to IU, and we are excited to begin collaborating with him.”
Shen’s research focuses on understanding and preventing glioblastoma recurrence. Glioblastoma tends to come back after treatment because of specific cells in the tumors called glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), which are resistant to treatments.
Learn more in this “5 Questions with Dr. Shen.”
Shen is working to find a way to effectively kill these GSCs by using a “one-two punch” strategy: 1.) Develop drugs that target molecules within the GSCs responsible for cell communication and maintenance. If that can be disrupted, the cells become more vulnerable to treatment. 2.) Enhance the immune cells’ ability to recognize and kill the GSCs
“By combining these two aspects, we hope to deliver a powerful blow to the GSCs and improve the chances of successfully treating glioblastoma,” Shen said.
Prior to coming to IU, Shen was a staff scientist at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and a scientist in research and development at AstraZeneca.
He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at Sanford Burnham Prebys, and he earned his doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology from the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in China.
He holds memberships with the American Association of Immunologists, the American Association for Cancer Research, and the American Aging Association.
Shen joins a strong team of glioblastoma researchers at IU who collaborate from cross-disciplinary teams that represent pediatrics, neurosurgery, pathology, laboratory medicine, and molecular biology among others. Their combined efforts lead to innovative research, including work on understanding why certain drugs seem to work well initially but wane over time, how art therapy impacts quality of life with people with glioblastoma, and more.
