Fox Chase Cancer Center Endowed Chairs

Endowed Chairs Endowed Chairs Home G. Morris Dorrance Jr. Chair in Medical Oncology Gloria and Edmund M. Dunn Chair in Thoracic Surgical Oncology Marvin S. Greenberg, MD Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Surgery Gerald E. Hanks Chair in Radiation Oncology G. Willing "Wing" Pepper Chair in Cancer Research Stanley P. Reimann Chair in Oncology Research Jack Schulz Chair in Basic Science Timothy R. Talbot Jr. Chair in Cancer Research Carol and Kenneth Weg Chair in Human Genetics Robert C. Young MD Chair in Cancer Research Paul Grotzinger and Wilbur Raab Chair in Surgical Oncology Samuel M.V. Hamilton Chair in Prevention Alfred G. Knudson Jr. Chair in Basic Science Donald E. and Shirley C. Morel, Stanley and Stella Bayster Chair in Molecular Imaging Audrey Weg Schaus and Geoffrey Alan Weg Chair in Medical Science H.O. West and J.R. Wike Chair in Cancer Research William Wikoff Smith Chair in Cancer Research Chairholders J. Robert Beck, MD Jeff Boyd, PhD Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD Mary B. Daly, MD, PhD, FACP Paul F. Engstrom, MD Eric M. Horwitz, MD John P. Hoffman, MD, FACS Beatrice Mintz, PhD Walter J. Scott, MD, FACS Anna M. Skalka, PhD Joseph R. Testa, PhD Robert G. Uzzo, MD, FACS David S. Weinberg, MD, MSc

Stanley P. Reimann Chair in Oncology Research

Fox Chase Cancer Center’s inaugural endowed chair, established in 1993 by the Fox Chase Board of Directors, honors Stanley P. Reimann, MD, the founder of the Institute for Cancer Research, whose commitment to discovery and collaborative science continues to define the robust research enterprise at Fox Chase.  This chair was established to recognize and support an outstanding leader in the field of cancer research who represents the highest standards of excellence.

Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD

Senior Vice President
Chief Scientific Officer
As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Jonathan Chernoff coordinates and charts the future course of research at Fox Chase Cancer Center.

Jonathan Chernoff was an undergraduate at Yale University when he first encountered protein kinases and phosphatases — enzymes that regulate almost all biologic signaling processes. During a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University, Dr. Chernoff cloned the first protein tyrosine phosphatase, known as PTP1B. This enzyme plays a major role in insulin and leptin signaling, and has become a major focus of drug company research, as inhibitors of PTP1B are expected to be of benefit for adults who suffer from diabetes and/or obesity.

Since his arrival at Fox Chase, Dr. Chernoff has continued to work on this enzyme, recently showing that it is regulated by a new and unexpected mechanism known as sumoylation. This discovery adds an additional dimension to our understanding about how this important enzyme is controlled, and points the way toward new strategies for its inhibition by drugs.

Dr. Chernoff has also made important discoveries related to protein kinases. His group was the first to identify the Mst kinases and demonstrate their role in cell survival. These enzymes are now known to represent a new class of tumor suppressors, and have become one of the hottest topics in signal transduction. Dr. Chernoff is also one of the world’s leading authorities on p21-activated kinases, commonly termed Paks, which play a key role in controlling cell shape, movement, and invasion. As these processes are important in cancer cell metastasis, Paks are thought to represent useful new therapeutic targets in a variety of human cancers.

In addition, Dr. Chernoff has played a leading role in developing local and international academic affiliations, acting as liaison to Drexel University in Philadelphia and the Ben Gurion University in Israel.