Dr. Dmitry Gabrilovich is a distinguished leader in cancer immunology currently serving as Chief Scientist in Cancer Immunology at AstraZeneca. He holds both MD and PhD degrees and completed specialized training in dendritic cell biology at Imperial College London followed by cancer research fellowships at U.T. Southwestern Medical School and Vanderbilt University. Throughout his career, he has held prestigious academic appointments including Robert Rothman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research and Head of the Section of Dendritic Cell Biology at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, and Christopher M. Davis Professor in Cancer Research at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia where he also served as Professor at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine.
Dr. Gabrilovich's pioneering research has fundamentally reshaped understanding of tumor-induced immune suppression, most notably through his co-discovery and characterization of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), a term he introduced in 2007 that has since become foundational in cancer immunology with over 1,600 subsequent publications. His laboratory was the first to demonstrate functional impairment of dendritic cells in cancer patients and to identify the initial tumor-derived factors responsible for this immune suppression, revealing mechanisms including lipid accumulation that negatively regulate dendritic cell function. His group has characterized numerous molecular pathways regulating MDSC expansion and function, including NF-κB, Jak-STAT, Notch, Wnt, and Rb, and provided the first clinical evidence that MDSCs can be therapeutically targeted in patients, establishing critical scientific foundations for new immunotherapeutic approaches.
Recognized as an American Cancer Society Research Professor since 2019, Dr. Gabrilovich has maintained exceptional scientific influence, being consistently listed among the most highly cited researchers in immunology for over nine consecutive years. His work continues to drive innovation in immuno-oncology through active involvement in clinical trials testing cancer vaccines and therapeutic agents targeting myeloid cells, with his research on peroxynitrite-mediated resistance mechanisms informing next-generation immunotherapy development. As a respected leader in the field, his contributions have catalyzed a paradigm shift in understanding how tumors evade immune surveillance, establishing MDSCs as a major research focus worldwide and creating new therapeutic avenues that bridge fundamental immunology with clinical cancer treatment strategies.
