Owen N Witte

Owen N Witte is a Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying prostate cancer development, progression, and therapeutic resistance, with particular emphasis on cancer stem cells, lineage plasticity, and novel therapeutic targets.

Dr. Witte's research interests span multiple areas of cancer biology, including:

• Prostate cancer initiation and progression
• Cancer stem cell biology
• Lineage plasticity and neuroendocrine differentiation in prostate cancer
• RNA splicing and its role in cancer
• Cancer immunotherapy target discovery
• Molecular mechanisms of treatment resistance

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on understanding the molecular underpinnings of aggressive prostate cancer variants, particularly those with neuroendocrine features. His work integrates genomics, epigenetics, and functional studies to identify novel therapeutic targets and understand mechanisms of treatment resistance. A significant portion of his recent work explores RNA splicing abnormalities as sources of neoantigens for immunotherapy, with development of approaches like IRIS (Immunopeptidome Repertoire Identification System).

Dr. Witte has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for decades, with numerous R01 grants and other research awards supporting his work on prostate cancer, stem cell biology, and cancer immunology. His laboratory has made seminal contributions to understanding the cellular origins of prostate cancer and the molecular pathways driving its progression.

His research group has developed innovative approaches for studying cancer stem cells and has made significant contributions to understanding how prostate cancer evolves under therapeutic pressure, particularly in the context of androgen deprivation therapy. His work has helped define the molecular characteristics of treatment-emergent neuroendocrine prostate cancer, a particularly aggressive variant that represents a major clinical challenge.