Katelyn Byrne

Katelyn Byrne is an Assistant Professor at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in the Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology department, affiliated with the Knight Cancer Institute and Brenden-Colson Center for Pancreatic Care. Her research focuses on the immunobiology of pancreatic cancer, particularly mechanisms bridging innate and adaptive immunity to enhance immunotherapy efficacy.

• Education: B.A. (2007) from Boston University, Ph.D. (2013) from Dartmouth College, and postdoctoral training as a Senior Parker Fellow.

Her work leverages genetically engineered mouse models of pancreatic cancer to study tumor microenvironment dynamics, with clinical translation in immunotherapy trials. Key contributions include CD40 agonism for CD4+ T cell-mediated tumor rejection, immune checkpoint blockade synergy, and spatial transcriptomics for infiltrate heterogeneity. Recent articles (2024) highlight machine learning in immune profiling and MHC class I-deficient tumor targeting.

Dr. Byrne is a recipient of the American Cancer Society Post-doctoral Fellowship and Senior Parker Fellowship. She mentors graduate students Margaret Haerr and Yi Zhang in her lab, which collaborates across OHSU’s cancer research centers. Current projects aim to develop novel immunotherapy combinations and T cell infiltration strategies for pancreatic cancer.