Assistant Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Her lab studies breast cancer immune-oncology, and she treats patients with breast cancer at Los Angeles General Medical Center and USC Norris.
Biography
Evanthia Roussos Torres is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine (Division of Oncology) and the Department of Cancer Biology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and a member of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center — where she co-leads the Tumor Immunology & Microenvironment Program and serves as Assistant Director of Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination.
Her laboratory studies why breast cancers resist immunotherapy and how to overcome that resistance. The lab focuses on myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and other immunosuppressive programs in the tumor microenvironment, including epigenetic modulation, immune checkpoint inhibition, metastatic-site differences, and patient-population differences.
She earned her MD and PhD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, trained in internal medicine and hematology/oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed her medical oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins in the laboratory of Elizabeth Jaffee. Today she treats patients with breast cancer at Los Angeles General Medical Center and USC Norris, and mentors trainees from high school through faculty.
Appointments & leadership
Department of Medicine (Division of Oncology) & Department of Cancer Biology, Keck School of Medicine of USC, with secondary appointments in Molecular Microbiology & Immunology and Cancer Biology.
USC faculty profileUSC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Also Assistant Director, Cancer Research Training & Education Coordination (CRTEC).
USC Norris programLos Angeles General Medical Center and USC Norris — Keck School of Medicine.
Breast cancer careTranslational Immune-Oncology study section (2026–2030). Associate Editor, Breast Cancer Research.
NIH study sectionEducation & training
University of California, Los Angeles
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Honors & awards
Jane E. Gray Travel Fellow Award
GRASP Advocate Choice Award
Best Poster Presentation, Grantee Summit
Grantee Poster Session Winner
Rising Star Scientific Investigator Award
Career Development Award
Minnie Riperton Legacy Award
Career Development Award
Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award
Scholar-in-Training Award
Physician Scientist Training Program — Scholars Class Inductee
Dean’s Recognition Award
Louis and Rachel Rudin Scholar
Scientific work displayed at the White House
Research funding
Targeting myeloid suppression to enhance anti-tumor immunity in breast cancer
Exploring the dynamic tumor-immune ecosystem of breast cancer in heterogeneous tumor microenvironments
The role of immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment in Hispanic/Latino patients with breast cancer
Suppressing suppression: a myeloid-centric approach to an anti-tumor response
Suppressing suppression: a myeloid-centric approach to an anti-tumor response
Past support includes METAvivor, the Tower Cancer Research Foundation, the Concern Foundation, and USC pilot programs.
visibility and talks
Organ-specific innate immunity in metastatic breast cancer
Beyond RECIST: the role of mathematical modeling in tumor immunology
The role of myeloid suppression in immune response and metastatic progression
Targeting myeloid suppression to enhance anti-tumor immunity in breast cancer
Myeloid suppression as a driver of intrinsic immune resistance in breast cancer
Targeting myeloid suppression to enhance anti-tumor immunity in breast cancer
Modulating MDSC function to alter responses to checkpoint inhibition
Suppressing suppression: a myeloid-centric approach to immune sensitization
Suppressing suppression: a myeloid-centric approach to immune sensitization
Entinostat, nivolumab and ipilimumab in advanced breast cancer
Unlocking the immune potential of breast cancer through reprogramming of the suppressive microenvironment
Service & editorial
Associate Editor, Breast Cancer Research
NCI/NIH Translational Immune-Oncology Study Section
Scientific Advisory Board, Tower Cancer Research Foundation
San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium — Planning Committee
Reviewer for AACR journals, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature Communications, and others
Professional societies