Dr. Torisu-Itakura is a medical researcher with a strong interest in translational oncology. Dr. Torisu-Itakura joined JWCI faculty in December 2009 after JWCI’s postdoctoral research fellowship. Dr. Torisu-Itakura is a Japanese-board certified dermatologist, and her primary research interest is melanoma. In her doctoral dissertation, Dr. Torisu-Itakura demonstrated that cytokine and chemokine expressed by primary melanoma cells and tumor-infiltrating macrophages had a synergistic effect on progression of human melanoma. Before the past decade, tumor-infiltrating macrophages were considered to contribute to only antitumor immunity. Now, tumor-infiltrating macrophages has begun to been recognized as playing an important role in both antitumor immunity and tumor-induced immunosuppression as tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) in tumor biology. Dr. Torisu-Itakura’s research focuses on understanding how cytokine and chemokine play a role in the tumor microenvironment, molecular and immunological mechanisms of lymph node (sentinel node) metastasis in melanoma, and immunological responses in advanced-stage melanoma patients. EducationM.D., Saga Medical School, Saga, Japan
Ph.D., Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Residency, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, John Wayne Cancer Institute, Santa Monica, CA Research Interest
Melanoma immunotherapy, immune response, site-specific metastasis
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