Laura M. Heiser

Laura M. Heiser is a Senior Professor at Oregon Health & Science University. Her research integrates systems biology, pharmacology, and cancer biology to decipher tumor heterogeneity and therapeutic resistance, with a focus on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and mammary epithelial cell signaling. Recent work employs agent-based models and trajectory landscapes to connect static tissue architecture with clinical outcomes, and demonstrates that TNBC response to paclitaxel phenocopies an interferon response linked to cell cycle-associated resistance. She has also identified senescent cell-derived extracellular vesicles that inhibit cancer recurrence via immune surveillance. Heiser has been recognized with a major award for investigating BET bromodomain inhibitor response in castration-resistant prostate cancer.