Researcher | Research Overview
Dr. Balan’s research studies are focused on identifying novel targets for cancer treatment including renal cancer. Dr. Balan’s research interest is to study the signal transduction pathways that modulate the growth, survival and killing of cancer cells; primarily focused on the receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs)-mediated signaling pathways. In long term, Dr. Balan wish to comprehensively understand how Cytokines/RTKs-mediated signaling interferes with host anti-tumor immune responses and identify novel targets that can improve both targeted and immunotherapeutic approaches in the treatment of renal cancer.
Researcher | Research Background
After obtaining an engineering degree in Industrial Biotechnology (2003) from Anna University, Chennai, India, Dr. Balan completed his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular biology (2010) from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), Newark, USA (Mentor: Dr. Sergei Kotenko). In 2012, Dr. Balan joined Dr. Soumitro Pal’s laboratory at the Division of Nephrology, Boston Children’s Hospital for his post-doctoral research; and his research works on renal cancer cell signaling mechanisms have resulted in a number of important publications. In 2016, he was promoted as an Instructor, and, currently, as a Principal Investigator on NIH funded projects, his research studies are focused on identifying novel targets for the treatment of cancer including renal cancer.