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

  • A CD40 Agonist and PD-1 Antagonist Antibody Reprogram the Microenvironment of Nonimmunogenic Tumors to Allow T-cell-Mediated Anticancer Activity. Cancer Immunol Res. 2019 03; 7(3):428-442.. View in PubMed
  • Entinostat Converts Immune-Resistant Breast and Pancreatic Cancers into Checkpoint-Responsive Tumors by Reprogramming Tumor-Infiltrating MDSCs. Cancer Immunol Res. 2018 12; 6(12):1561-1577.. View in PubMed
  • N-WASP-mediated invadopodium formation is involved in intravasation and lung metastasis of mammary tumors. J Cell Sci. 2012 Feb 01; 125(Pt 3):724-34.. View in PubMed
  • Setup and use of a two-laser multiphoton microscope for multichannel intravital fluorescence imaging. Nat Protoc. 2011 Sep 08; 6(10):1500-20.. View in PubMed
  • Chemotaxis in cancer. Nat Rev Cancer. 2011 Jul 22; 11(8):573-87.. View in PubMed
  • Mena invasive (MenaINV) promotes multicellular streaming motility and transendothelial migration in a mouse model of breast cancer. J Cell Sci. 2011 Jul 01; 124(Pt 13):2120-31.. View in PubMed
  • Mena invasive (Mena(INV)) and Mena11a isoforms play distinct roles in breast cancer cell cohesion and association with TMEM. Clin Exp Metastasis. 2011 Aug; 28(6):515-27.. View in PubMed
  • Mena deficiency delays tumor progression and decreases metastasis in polyoma middle-T transgenic mouse mammary tumors. Breast Cancer Res. 2010; 12(6):R101.. View in PubMed
  • AACR special conference on epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer progression and treatment. Cancer Res. 2010 Oct 01; 70(19):7360-4.. View in PubMed
  • Differential enhancement of breast cancer cell motility and metastasis by helical and kinase domain mutations of class IA phosphoinositide 3-kinase. Cancer Res. 2009 Dec 01; 69(23):8868-76.. View in PubMed