Meet the 2023-2024 Medical Oncology Fellow Dr. Vanja Cabric

Vanja Cabric, MD | Kristen Ann Carr Fund Medical Oncology Fellow

Vanja Cabric, MD, is a third-year pediatric hematology and oncology fellow in the combined NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center program. Her clinical interest has focused on the treatment of infants with solid tumors, and her research studies the developing immune system and anti-tumor immunity in early life. Dr. Cabric’s long-term career goal is to become a physician-scientist, which will allow her to devote clinical time to treating children with solid tumors and supporting families through the course of treatment while continuing to explore novel facets of tumor biology and immunology in the laboratory that may ultimately lead to the development if anti-cancer therapies.

Current Research

Under the research mentorship of Chrysothemis Brown, MBBS, PhD, Dr. Cabric is studying a class of immune cells, called antigen-presenting cells, that are a key cell type for priming anti-tumor immune responses. The immune system in childhood is different from that in adulthood, and currently very little is known about the pediatric immune response to tumors. This knowledge gap has limited the design of immunotherapies that are effective against pediatric solid tumors. Dr. Cabric’s research aims to identify critical age-dependent differences in antigen-presenting cells that may drive or suppress tumor immune response. Through the study of laboratory models of hepatoblastoma, the liver tumor most common in childhood, her work aims to reveal novel immune pathways that may one day serve as a potential therapeutic target against pediatric solid tumors.