Owen Witte

Owen Witte is a University Professor at the University of California and holds the President’s Chair in Developmental Immunology. He is also a Distinguished Professor in the departments of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics and Molecular & Medical Pharmacology. His affiliations include Director Emeritus of the Eli & Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Research and membership in advisory boards for CTSI, California NanoSystems Institute, and multiple cancer research programs at UCLA.

• Undergraduate: Cornell University
• MD: Stanford University
• Postdoctoral Research: MIT

Dr. Witte’s research explores the molecular mechanisms of human leukemias and immune disorders, including the discovery of tyrosine kinase activity in the ABL gene and BCR-ABL oncoproteins. His work has pioneered kinase-targeted therapies for cancers and identified Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) as a critical target in lymphomas and leukemias. Recent studies focus on epithelial cancer stem cells, therapy resistance via epigenetic changes, and small cell neuroendocrine carcinomas in prostate cancer. He also develops PET imaging techniques to monitor tumor growth and immune functions.

Dr. Witte has received prestigious honors, including:

• Association of American Medical Colleges Award for Distinguished Research in Biomedical Sciences
• Stanford University School of Medicine's Arthur Kornberg and Paul Berg Lifetime Achievement Award in Biomedical Sciences

He is actively involved in industry collaborations as a Board Member and Scientific Advisory Board Chair at Allogene Therapeutics, Founder and Scientific Advisory Board Chair at Kronos Bio, and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at Vida Ventures. His laboratory continues to investigate novel therapeutic targets in aggressive cancers, mentoring graduate students like Nathanael Bangayan and Chia-Chun (Olga) Chen.