Evanthia Roussos Torres, MD, PhD

University of Southern California
$100,000 Howard and Reva Colover Trust Career Development Research Grant

Research Title:
Sensitizing the tumor immune microenvironment of breast cancer

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Immunotherapies harness the body’s immune system to fight cancer, holding great promise to prevent recurrence and prolong survival. Immunotherapies have been less effective in patients with breast cancer in part, due to the recruitment of suppressive cells that prevent an anti-tumor effect. We will investigate strategies to decrease suppressive signals within the tumor, allowing anti-tumor signals to successfully eliminate tumor growth. We will also determine differences in suppressive signals between early versus metastatic breast cancers to improve response to immunotherapy for patients with all stages of disease.

Dr. Roussos Torres received a BS in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics and a BA in World Arts and Cultures with a concentration in Dance from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). She then went on to receive her combined MD/PhD from the Medical Scientist Training Program at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

She then completed her internal medicine residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She began her hematology/oncology fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania. Following the completion of her major clinical requirements, she transferred to Johns Hopkins University to pursue her research interests in cancer immunology under the mentorship of Dr. Elizabeth Jaffee.

Dr. Roussos Torres graduated from fellowship and began her faculty career as an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University; she is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California. She leads her own lab and works collaboratively with other physicians and physician-scientists to continue her work in immune-oncology with a specific interest in breast cancer.