Melissa Hirose Wong

Melissa Hirose Wong is a Professor of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology at Oregon Health & Science University, where she also serves as Vice Chair and holds the Rood Family Endowed Professorship in Cancer Research. She is the Associate Director of Basic Science at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. Her research focuses on tumor-immune hybrid cell biology, circulating hybrid cells as blood-based biomarkers for early cancer detection, and the tumor microenvironment in metastasis. Her recent work includes developing protease-activated nanosensor assays for pancreatic cancer detection and profiling plasma protease activity to classify gastrointestinal cancers. She has secured major grants for developing circulating tumor cell biomarkers for colorectal cancer and lung cancer treatment response.