Dr. Stephanie S Watowich is a Professor and Deputy Chair in the Department of Immunology and the Director of the Center for Inflammation and Cancer at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Through work in her lab, she seeks to understand how innate immune cells are generated and their role in regulating the immune response to cancer or extracellular pathogens. She received her PhD from Northwestern University and postdoctoral training in the lab of Harvey Lodish at the Whitehead Institute, giving her a broad scientific background in cellular and molecular biology as well as expertise in blood and immune cell development. She has conducted studies on transcriptional regulation, cytokine receptor structure/function, cytokine signaling, and hematopoiesis for over two decades. Her lab has defined roles for STATs in erythropoiesis, granulopoiesis, and dendritic cell (DC) generation, including in-depth studies of STAT function in vivo and identification of STAT target genes that regulate blood cell growth and differentiation. Dr. Watowich has received numerous awards for her efforts in mentoring and teaching, including the John P. McGovern Outstanding Teacher Award and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation Faculty Achievement Award in Education. She has directed numerous cross-disciplinary research teams funded by grants and pharmaceutical companies and has an extensive publication record spanning three decades.