Dr. Patrick Grohar, PhD, MD

Russell G. Adderley Professor of Pediatric Oncology

Dr. Grohar received his BS in chemistry at Villanova University. He subsequently earned both a PhD in chemistry and a MD at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He completed residency training in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University and fellowship training in pediatric hematology-oncology in the joint program of Johns Hopkins and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he was chief fellow. 

After a brief period as junior faculty in the pediatric oncology branch at the NCI, he joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University as an assistant professor of pediatrics. He was recruited to the Van Andel Research Institute as an associate professor; ultimately becoming a program leader in skeletal diseases and cancer therapeutics. He was subsequently recruited to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as the Director of Translational Research in the Center for Childhood Cancer Research. Dr. Grohar holds the Kelly and Chad Punchard Endowed Chair for Translational Sarcoma Research. He is a member of both the pharmacology and cancer biology graduate groups at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. 

Dr. Grohar is internationally recognized for his work on Ewing sarcoma. His lab has primarily focused on the therapeutic targeting of the EWS-FLI1 transcription factor; the oncogenic driver of this disease. He has received numerous grant awards including federal and foundation support. In addition, he has been generously supported by philanthropy. 

He holds national leadership positions in the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), specifically as the vice-chair of biology for bone tumors, chair of the Ewing sarcoma biology committee and co-chair of combined sarcoma biology. He serves on a number of advisory boards and is an ad hoc reviewer for numerous journals and funding agencies. Dr. Grohar has had the honor of being invited to give lectures across the United States and in Europe.