Judith Agudo

Judith Agudo, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Immunology at Harvard Medical School and a Principal Investigator in the Department of Cancer Immunology and Virology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her research focuses on the immune surveillance of tissue-resident stem cells and cancer stem cells, with implications for cancer immunotherapy and regenerative medicine.

Her research interests include understanding how normal and cancerous stem cells evade immune detection, the molecular mechanisms behind immune privilege, and the development of strategies to protect regenerative tissues or enhance immune targeting of metastatic cancer cells. She explores the role of quiescence, antigen presentation, and niche formation in immune evasion.

Dr. Agudo's recent publications reveal groundbreaking insights into immune escape mechanisms in quiescent and cancer stem cells, utilizing innovative models like the Jedi mouse and PADME-seq for spatial transcriptomic analysis. Her work spans immunology, cancer biology, and stem cell research, with a strong emphasis on translational applications.

Her scientific achievements have been recognized with several prestigious awards:

• Mary Kay Foundation Award
• Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Award
• Pathway Award from the American Diabetes Association
• Smith Family Foundation Award for Excellence
• Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Era of Hope
• New York Stem Cell Foundation – Robertson Investigator
• Member of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

Dr. Agudo leads an active research lab investigating immune interactions with stem cells, with ongoing projects in tumor initiation, dormancy, metastasis, and regenerative medicine. She has secured significant research funding and collaborates with leading labs such as the Yilmaz lab. Her lab continues to develop novel technologies to dissect the tumor microenvironment and immune evasion pathways.

Her lab, the Agudo Lab, is based at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and is dedicated to uncovering fundamental mechanisms of immune surveillance with therapeutic applications in cancer and autoimmune diseases.