Dr. McAllister’s lab group studies breast cancer as a systemic disease with particular emphasis on the role of immune fitness in disease control and response to therapy. Her group conducted the first pre-clinical trial to evaluate CDK4/6 inhibition combined with immune checkpoint blockade. Based on their work to understand the effects of age on disease progression and response to immunotherapy, she and her colleagues launched 3 clinical studies and formed the Older Women with Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Team. Her team also developed a technology to accelerate discovery of new therapeutic strategies and biomarkers of response to therapy across many disease indications. Dr. McAllister received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and completed her Ph.D. studies in molecular and cellular biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She joined Robert Weinberg’s laboratory at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research as a postdoctoral fellow where she established new pre-clinical models to study breast cancer pathophysiology.  She joined the faculty of Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2009, and is also an affiliate member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, an Associate Member of the Broad Institute, and a Member of the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.  In 2012, Dr. McAllister received the 2012 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Obama, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their careers.