Lisa M. Coussens

Lisa M. Coussens is a Professor of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology and holds the Hildegard Lamfrom Endowed Chair in Basic Science at Oregon Health & Science University, where she also chairs the Department of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology. Her research focuses on the tumor microenvironment, cancer immunology, and immunotherapy, with particular emphasis on breast and pancreatic cancers. Recent work includes elucidating how agonistic anti-CD40 antibodies convert regulatory T cells into type 1 effectors within tumors, defining single-cell survival signatures in clinical cohorts, and demonstrating that CSF1R inhibition combined with chemotherapy relieves systemic immune suppression in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Her investigations into tumor-intrinsic MHC-II activation and plectin-mediated T cell repression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma highlight her contributions to improving immune checkpoint blockade efficacy.