USC Norris cancer researcher receives donation

September 21, 2015
Si-Yi Chen, MD, PhD, of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

Si-Yi Chen, MD, PhD, of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

The cutting-edge cancer research being done by Si-Yi Chen, MD, PhD, of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center recently received a generous donation and pledge totaling $1.45 million from Yi-Lin Zhu and his family, who live in China.

The gift will support efforts to develop tumor immunotherapy by Chen, who is a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Chen is an internationally recognized expert in tumor immunology and immunotherapy. For two decades, he has studied signaling transduction in immune cells, including genetically modifying T cells and dendritic cells for tumor and HIV immunotherapy.

In recognition of the gift from the Zhu family, a plaque inscribed as “The Y.L. Zhu Tumor Immunotherapy Research Laboratory” has been installed outside Chen’s laboratory in the Norris Research Tower.

“I am very grateful to Mr. Zhu and his family for their generous donation to advance our translational cancer research,” Chen said.