Sara Small, MD, PhD, joins the Fox Chase Cancer Center Department of Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapies with a clear mission: seeking to understand how modulation of inflammatory signaling pathways can be leveraged to develop novel treatments that overcome chemotherapy resistance in leukemia. As a predoctoral fellow in Penn’s Cancer Biology Department, Small studied proteins secreted by cells in response to stress and how this contributes to cell senescence, cancer, and aging. Her work was recognized with an NIH Individual NRSA MD/PhD Fellowship granted by the National Institute on Aging.

Small has published numerous studies in peer-reviewed journals, including Science Signaling and Leukemia, and is a peer reviewer for Leukemia & Lymphoma. She has presented her research at both national and international conferences.

Most recently, Small was a fellow in hematology/oncology in the Department of Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where she also completed a residency in internal medicine, receiving the Residency Excellence in Teaching Award.

She received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University. She earned a doctorate in cellular and molecular biology and a medical degree in 2017, both from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s Medical Scientist Training Program.

She is also the recipient of the American Society of Hematology Research Training Award for Fellows grant and recently received the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Teaching Award from Northwestern Memorial Hospital.