Mikala Egeblad is an internationally-recognized cancer researcher who studies how the tumor microenvironment—the immune cells, blood vessels, chemical signals, and support matrix surrounding a tumor—regulates cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis. Egeblad’s ultimate goal is to help cancer patients mitigate their risk of recurrence and metastasis, and her work holds promise for potential future treatment options.

While most microenvironments help tumors grow and metastasize, some can restrict tumors. Egeblad investigates how to target the bad microenvironments and support the good ones to prevent metastatic spread. She examines the functions of immune cells known as myeloid cells, how different types of myeloid cells are recruited to tumors, and how signals between the myeloid cells and cancer cells or other immune cells influence cancer progression, including metastasis, as well as response to chemotherapy. Egeblad has been a driving force in identifying the mechanisms by which neutrophils—a specific type of myeloid cell—influence cancer progression, and specifically how neutrophil extracellular traps can promote cancer recurrence and metastasis. A current line of research involves learning more about how the brain regulates the immune system to combat cancer.

Egeblad joined Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in 2023 from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She is part of the Convergence Institute.