ASCI / Young Physician-Scientist Awards, 2026
The Young Physician-Scientist Awards (YPSA) recognize physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research.
About the awardee
Jonathan Chou, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco, where he leads a translational oncology research lab focused on prostate and bladder cancers. He received his B.S. in Biology from Stanford University and completed the Medical Scientist Training Program at UCSF with the late Dr. Zena Werb, where he worked on understanding how tumor differentiation affected breast cancer metastasis and identifying critical genes regulating metastasis. He completed residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Medical Oncology at UCSF, where he worked with Dr. Alan Ashworth and the late Dr. Felix Feng on understanding the role of CDK12 in prostate cancer. His research has been published in Nature Cell Biology, Nature Cancer, Nature Communications, Cancer Discovery, Clinical Cancer Research, and Cancer Research.
Dr, Chou started his research group in 2022, where he continues to work on identifying new cancer surface protein targets and ways to remodel the tumor microenvironment to enhance surface targeting therapies, including CAR T cells and antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). In addition, he has a long-standing interest in CDK12 biology, as it relates to regulating transcription-replication collisions (TRCs) and genomic stability. His group has uncovered new synthetic lethal strategies that they are excited to move into a biomarker-selected clinical trial for prostate cancer. Ultimately, Dr. Chou’s goal is to translate laboratory discoveries into new therapies and diagnostics that will improve the survival of patients living with advanced cancers. His work has been supported by the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, V Foundation, Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation, National Cancer Institute as well as the Department of Defense.
Outside of the lab, Dr. Chou enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, daughter and dog, and trying new restaurants and bakeries in San Francisco.