Patrick J. Grohar

Biography

 Patrick J. Grohar is currently Associate Professor, Program in Skeletal Disease and Tumor Microenvironment, Center for Cancer and Cell Biology at Van Andel Research Institute (VARI). In addition to his appointment in VARI’s Center for Cancer and Cell Biology, Dr. Grohar maintains a clinical presence in the department of hematology/oncology at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, where he is a member of the sarcoma team. He also has an academic appointment at Michigan State University in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Grohar received his B.S. in chemistry from Villanova University followed by his Ph.D. in chemistry and his M.D. from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He then completed a residency at Johns Hopkins University followed by fellowship training in pediatric hematology oncology at Johns Hopkins and the National Cancer Institute, where he also served as a junior faculty member. After NCI, he joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University as an assistant professor of pediatrics before arriving at Van Andel Research Institute as an associate professor in July 2015. The focus of Dr. Grohar’s research is on drug development for pediatric sarcomas and in particular the Ewing’s sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT). The major emphasis is on the identification and characterization of small molecule inhibitors of the EWS-FLI1 transcription factor for the treatment of Ewing’s sarcoma. The goal is to identify compounds that reverse the activity of this potent oncogene. In addition, Dr. Grohar studies the molecular biology of EWS-FLI1 mediated transcription as well as the identification and characterization of novel molecular targets for ESFT.

Research Interest

 General Science