Evanthia Roussos Torres, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology

Program Leader for Tumor Immunology and Microenvironment (TIME) Program

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Overview

Dr. Roussos Torres received a BS in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics and a BA in World Arts and Cultures with a concentration in Dance from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). She then went on to receive her combined MD/PhD from the Medical Scientist Training Program at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She then completed her internal medicine residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and her hematology/ oncology fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Roussos Torres graduated from fellowship and began her faculty career as an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University and is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California where she leads her own lab and works collaboratively with other physicians and physician scientists to continue her work in immune-oncology with a specific interest in breast cancer and the tumor immune suppressive microenvironment.

Dr. Roussos Torres is very passionate about her research as well as her care of patients with cancer and training of the fellows to become compassionate and knowledgeable physicians. She is driven to make memorable contributions to the field of cancer research given her personal experience advocating for her mother who died from metastatic breast cancer in 2016. Dr. Roussos Torres felt passionate about having an impact on the field of breast cancer prior to her mother’s diagnosis but learning about the devastation of metastatic disease as the family member of a patient provided a different perspective and drive for novel treatment options.

Dr. Roussos Torres loves her work but also prioritizes her family life; her husband Dr. Stephen Torres is an orthopedic surgeon, specializing in sports medicine and together they have three sons, Owen, James and Luke who fill their life with joy and make every day a wonder! The Torres family also has a Chesapeake Bay retriever, Emma who greatly contributes to her active lifestyle! Dr. Roussos Torres enjoys traveling, eating out at new restaurants and road biking! Dr. Roussos Torres grew up in Santa Monica and is so happy to work close to where she grew up to raise her family near her siblings, their families, and her father who still resides here.

Laboratory website: https://sites.usc.edu/roussostorreslab/

Publications library: https://www-ncbi-nlm-nihgov.libproxy2.usc.edu/myncbi/1pwdQqmmnMeUHt/bibliography/public/

Publications

  • Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase modulates immune response to checkpoint inhibition in mismatch repair deficient/microsatellite instability-high colorectal cancer. J Immunother Cancer. 2026 Aug 17; 14(8).. View in PubMed
  • Immune Circuit Rewiring by HDAC Inhibition Enables Response to Dual Checkpoint Blockade in Metastatic Breast Cancer. Cancer Res. 2026 Aug 11.. View in PubMed
  • Inference of marker genes of subtle cell state changes via iLR: iterative logistic regression. Bioinformatics. 2026 02 03; 42(2).. View in PubMed
  • High Grade Hepatotoxicity From Dual Checkpoint Inhibitors Is More Common in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Than Other Cancers. Liver Int. 2025 09; 45(9):e70255.. View in PubMed
  • Pan-RAS inhibitors and polo-like kinase 1: promising targets in colorectal cancer. Oncogene. 2025 Aug; 44(30):2565-2573.. View in PubMed
  • Association of Androgen Receptor Expression With Tumor Immune Landscape and Treatment Outcomes of Patients With Breast Cancer. JCO Precis Oncol. 2025 Apr; 9:e2400459.. View in PubMed
  • Modeling the dynamics of EMT reveals genes associated with pan-cancer intermediate states and plasticity. NPJ Syst Biol Appl. 2025 Apr 10; 11(1):31.. View in PubMed
  • Integrated workflow for analysis of immune enriched spatial proteomic data with IMmuneCite. Sci Rep. 2025 Mar 19; 15(1):9394.. View in PubMed
  • Impact of Structural Racism and Social Determinants of Health on Disparities in Breast Cancer Mortality. Cancer Res. 2024 12 02; 84(23):3924-3935.. View in PubMed
  • Hypoxic Memory Mediates Prolonged Tumor-Intrinsic Type I Interferon Suppression to Promote Breast Cancer Progression. Cancer Res. 2024 10 01; 84(19):3141-3157.. View in PubMed