Stephanie S. Watowich

Stephanie S. Watowich is a Professor and Deputy Chair, as well as a Distinguished Teaching Professor, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her research focuses on immunology, cancer immunotherapy, and tumor biology, with a specific emphasis on dendritic cell biology, antigen presentation requirements for effective cDC1-based cancer immunotherapy, and the immune microenvironment in acral melanoma. Her recent work has identified spatial immune hubs defined by conserved activated dendritic cells that are remodeled by immunotherapy, and has explored how cancer-induced nerve injury promotes resistance to anti-PD-1 therapy. She also investigates the role of the microbiota in immune-related adverse events and the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme UBE2N in acute myeloid leukemia. Her findings have been published in Nature, Nature Reviews Cancer, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation.