Rate My Professor Kenny Chitcholtan

Dr. Kenny Chitcholtan is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Division of Health Sciences. He holds a BSc from Northern Territory and a PhD from Canterbury. With extensive expertise in preclinical cancer research, his work focuses on understanding the tumour biology of ovarian cancer. Chitcholtan employs advanced three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models, chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) models, and mouse models to investigate the complex biology of advanced ovarian cancer and identify novel therapeutic strategies. He has successfully established and maintained five stable primary ovarian cancer cell lines derived from New Zealand patients with advanced-stage disease, enhancing the translational potential of in vitro studies. His research interests include the activity of tyrosine kinases and targeted inhibitors, effects of ascitic fluid on ovarian cancer progression, and anti-tumour properties of natural food compounds such as resveratrol, turmeric, grape seed extract, and green tea. Current projects explore drug combinations using repurposed medicines like Deferasirox and Chloroquine to inhibit ovarian cancer progression, as well as proteomic profiling for low-grade serous ovarian cancer to identify compensatory pathways during KRAS inhibition. He has developed a novel CAM model approach for growing low-grade serous ovarian tumour cells, overcoming limitations of traditional mouse models.

Chitcholtan's contributions have expanded translational research capacity within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Christchurch. Key publications include 'Impact of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and lysophosphatidic acid on the behavior of ovarian cancer cells in a three-dimensional collagen hydrogel' (2025, Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Research), 'Peroxidasin is associated with a mesenchymal-like transcriptional phenotype and promotes invasion in metastatic melanoma' (2025, Free Radical Biology & Medicine), 'Effects of resveratrol on in vivo ovarian cancer cells implanted on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of a chicken embryo model' (2024, International Journal of Molecular Sciences), and 'Peroxidasin: A novel modulator of melanoma cell invasion' (2023, Proceedings of the New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology). His research also encompasses endometrial cancer and investigations into the three-dimensional environment of tumours using unanchored spheroids in the Laboratory for Cell and Protein Regulation.