Fox Chase Cancer Center Selects Attila Seyhan as Director of Translational Medicine Operations

Seyhan will manage and promote translational medicine operations through development of investigator-initiated clinical trials, protocol writing, and manuscript preparation, organization of translational medicine events, support for translational requests for application, and grant preparation and submissions.

In this position, Seyhan will work closely with the deputy cancer center director for translational research, Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP. A major part of Seyhan’s role at Fox Chase will include collaborating with clinicians, scientists, grant management offices, institutional entities, and many others for Fox Chase.

Fox Chase is a leading cancer research and treatment center in the United States. It was the first institution to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. The institution conducts studies through competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, aiming for cancer prevention, detections, survivorship and community outreach.

Seyhan is not new to the field of translational medicine; his research has covered translational research focused on diabetes and metabolic disease, cancer, inflammation and immunology, molecular virology, and rare genetic diseases.

His most recent positions include associate professor at the Translational Research Institute for Metabolism and Diabetes at Florida Hospital in Orlando, Florida, as well as adjunct associate professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.

He also served as a research affiliate in the department of chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. He has author and co-authored over 35 publications and grants totaling $6.2 million. With more than 9 patents, Seyhan has won several awards honoring his hard work and excellence.

Seyhan has held several leadership roles throughout his career, including senior principal scientist at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, principal scientist and head of functional genomics at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and senior scientist II at OpenBiosystems/Thermo Fisher in Huntsville, Alabama, Dharmacon/Thermo Fisher in Lafayette, Colorado, and SomaGenics, Inc., in Santa Cruz, California.

For over 16 years, Seyhan has worked in the field of drug, target, and biomarker discovery and development. His previous experience and academic background will help him as he transitions to his new role at Fox Chase.