معرفی
Stephanie K. Dougan is an Investigator at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and holds dual faculty positions at Harvard Medical School as Associate Professor of Immunology and Assistant Professor of Microbiology. Her research focuses on overcoming immunotherapy resistance in pancreatic cancer through innovative mouse models and immunological strategies.
Dr. Dougan received her PhD in Immunology from Harvard University, where she studied lipid antigen presentation and NKT cell development with Richard Blumberg. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Hidde Ploegh at the Whitehead Institute, specializing in somatic cell nuclear transfer and CRISPR genome editing for mouse model development.
Her research interests center on the immune microenvironment of pancreatic cancer, particularly why these tumors resist T cell infiltration and immunotherapy. The Dougan Lab investigates strategies to manipulate the tumor immune landscape, focusing on cytokine therapy, checkpoint blockade, and IAP antagonists to enhance anti-tumor immunity. Using transnuclear and CRISPR-modified mice, her team probes the determinants of immune response in densely fibrotic tumors.
The 15 most recent publications highlight a strong focus on pancreatic cancer immunology, T cell activation, cytokine signaling, and therapeutic resistance. Key themes include the role of IFNγ in immune equilibrium, CDK4/6 inhibition in T cell memory, TGF-β blockade in chemotherapy response, and mechanisms of immune-related adverse events. Her work frequently appears in top-tier journals such as Cell, Nature, and Science Translational Medicine.
- GM-CSF, IL-3, and IL-5 Family of Cytokines: Regulators of Inflammation (2019)
- Broadening the impact of immunotherapy to pancreatic cancer: Challenges and opportunities (2019)
- Regulation of innate and adaptive antitumor immunity by IAP antagonists (2018)
- Unmasking Pancreatic Cancer: Epitope Spreading After Single Antigen Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy in a Human Phase I Trial (2018)
Dr. Dougan is actively involved in education and mentorship, serving as course director for the Harvard Immunology Summer Undergraduate Program, co-director for the graduate course Immunology 201, and course director for an Advanced Integrated Science course for medical students. Her lab collaborates extensively with the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research to profile tumor microenvironments and test targeted therapies. She has secured significant research grants supporting her work on pancreatic cancer immunology and has mentored numerous students and postdoctoral researchers who appear as co-authors on her publications.
The Dougan Lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is dedicated to translating basic immunological discoveries into novel cancer therapies, particularly for treatment-resistant cancers like pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The lab employs a multidisciplinary approach combining genetic engineering, immunology, and preclinical modeling to identify new therapeutic targets and combination strategies.
