Attila Seyhan, PhD
FOX CHASE CANCER CENTER has hired Attila Seyhan, PhD, for the newly created position of Director of Translational Medicine Operations. Dr. Seyhan will work closely with Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, Deputy Cancer Center Director for Translational Research, to manage and promote multiple initiatives, including development of investigator-initiated clinical trials and other translational protocols, protocol writing and manuscript preparation, organization of translational medicine events, support for translational requests for application, and grant preparation and submissions. He also will work with industry to follow through on investigator-initiated basic and translational letters of intent and concepts. This work will involve collaboration with clinicians, scientists, regulatory personnel, administrators, tech transfer office staff, the grants management office, institutional review board, institutional advancement, and external entities.
A trained molecular biologist, Dr. Seyhan has more than 16 years of experience in drug, target, and biomarker discovery and development, as well as preclinical and clinical translational research, focused on diabetes and metabolic diseases, cancer, inflammation and immunology, molecular virology, and rare genetic diseases.
His most recent position was Associate Professor at the Translational Research Institute for Metabolism and Diabetes at Florida Hospital in Orlando and Adjunct Associate Professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in Orlando (Lake Nona). In addition, he served as a research affiliate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.
Leadership Roles
IN ADDITION TO academia, Dr. Seyhan has spent significant time in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, serving in leading roles as Senior Principal Scientist at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Principal Scientist and Head of Functional Genomics at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Collegeville, Pennsylvania; Senior Scientist II at OpenBiosystems/Thermo Fisher in Huntsville, Alabama; Dharmacon/Thermo Fisher in Lafayette, Colorado; and SomaGenics, Inc, Santa Cruz, California. ■
