Stephanie K. Dougan, PhD
Associate Professor of Immunology, Harvard Medical School | Investigator, Cancer Immunology & Virology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Overview
Dr. Stephanie Dougan is a cancer immunologist whose laboratory investigates why pancreatic cancer resists immunotherapy and how to overcome that barrier. She holds joint appointments at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber profile; DF/HCC profile).
Education & Training
- PhD, Immunology — Harvard University (lipid antigen presentation; CD1d/NKT biology) (Hale Center bio)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship — Whitehead Institute with Hidde Ploegh; expertise in transnuclear/CRISPR-engineered mouse models (Hale Center bio)
- Faculty — Joined Harvard Medical School & Dana-Farber in 2014 (Dana-Farber profile)
Current Roles
- Associate Professor of Immunology — Harvard Medical School (DF/HCC profile)
- Investigator, Cancer Immunology & Virology — Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber profile)
- Investigator, Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research (Hale Center bio)
- Principal Investigator, Dougan Lab — model-driven immunotherapy research (Dougan Lab home)
Research Focus
Why do most pancreatic tumors fail to recruit CD8+ T cells, rendering checkpoint blockade ineffective—and how can we prime and reprogram the tumor microenvironment to change that? The Dougan Lab uses engineered mouse models and translational approaches to answer this question (Lab research page).
- Engineered models: Transnuclear and CRISPR mouse systems to dissect anti-tumor immunity (Hale Center bio)
- Immunotherapy clinical trials in PDAC: The Dougan lab uses samples from clinical trials to understand how the immune system interacts with pancreatic cancer in humans (PMID: 38990554, PMID: 37733830)
- T-cell augmentation: Interview overviews of approaches to prime/boost T-cell responses in PDAC (OncLive interview)
Selected Publications
- PMID: 38975874 , PMID: 34011631
Awards & Honors
- Pew-Stewart Scholar in Cancer Research (Pew directory)
- Pancreatic Cancer Action Network/AACR Pathway to Leadership Award; investigator spotlight (PanCAN feature; Hale Center bio)
- Melanoma Research Alliance Young Investigator (MRA profile)
- Young Mentor Award, Harvard Medical School (2019) (Dana-Farber profile)
Timeline
- Harvard University — PhD, Immunology (CD1d/NKT) (Hale Center bio)
- Whitehead Institute — Postdoctoral fellowship (engineered mouse models) (Hale Center bio)
- 2014–present — Faculty at HMS & DFCI; pancreatic cancer immunotherapy focus (Dana-Farber profile)