Fox Chase Cancer Center Welcomes Hanzhi Luo

Hanzhi Luo, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Nuclear Dynamics and Cancer Research Program and a member of the Cancer Epigenetics Institute (CEI).

PHILADELPHIA (January 21, 2025) - Fox Chase Cancer Center is pleased to announce the hiring of Hanzhi Luo, PhD, as an Assistant Professor in the Nuclear Dynamics and Cancer Research Program and a member of the Cancer Epigenetics Institute (CEI).

The CEI provides a national hub dedicated to epigenetic studies and collaborations focused primarily on mechanisms that promote cancer and therapeutic resistance. The CEI is an environment that fosters academic-to-industry and academic-to-academic relationships with the goal of promoting discovery in cancer epigenetics.

Luo's laboratory will study the mechanisms controlling hematopoietic stem cell fate choices in normal and disease states, with an overarching goal to develop novel therapeutic strategies for hematological diseases associated with stem cell defects. The lab is specifically interested in understanding how RNA regulators, including RNA modifications and other novel disease-relevant RNA binding proteins, impact these processes.

Prior to joining Fox Chase, Luo was a postdoctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She uncovered the m6A RNA methylation and its downstream molecular programs, which are critical to controlling stem cell fate decisions.

This methylation is one of the most prevalent RNA modifications in both mRNA and long noncoding RNA and is often dysregulated in cancer. Her work on understanding the RNA methylation process has significant implications in both normal and malignant settings, particularly in areas such as stem cell expansion and potential cancer treatments.

Luo received her undergraduate degree from Peking University in Beijing and then earned her doctorate in metabolic biology from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focused on the reversibility of aging-associated conditions by examining the role of SIRT2 in the context of stem cell aging and chronic inflammation. While at Berkeley, she also has spent time training and educating undergraduate students on a range of topics, including toxicology, the metabolic basis of human health and diseases, and nutrition function and metabolism.

Luo has authored and co-authored many high-impact articles in journals, including Cell Stem Cell, Cell Metabolism, Cell Reports, and Science. Luo has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the American Society of Hematology Abstract Achievement Award, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Society Scholar Award, the NYSTEM Fellow Award, the Glenn/AFAR Scholarships for Research in the Biology of Aging, the Ellsworth C. Dougherty Memorial Fund Award at UC Berkeley, Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, and the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.