Skip to content
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
Search
Search Close

Matthew H. Spitzer, PhD

Member Researcher

Biography

Matthew H. Spitzer, PhD, is an associate professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); an affiliate investigator of the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology; and an investigator at PICI and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

As a graduate student at Stanford University, he developed experimental and analytical methods to model the state of the immune system and immune responses to cancer using high-dimensional single-cell data. He moved to UCSF as a Parker Senior Fellow and a Sandler Faculty Fellow in 2016.

The Spitzer Lab uses systems immunology methods, including single-cell analysis, to understand how the immune system is altered by and mounts responses against cancer. Areas of focus include the systemic impact of cancer on immune function, T cell priming in cancer, and understanding the mechanisms of effective immunotherapy in patients with breast cancer and head and neck cancer.

Dr. Spitzer holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Georgetown University, which was followed by graduate training in immunology at Stanford University in the laboratories of Edgar G. Engleman, MD, and Garry P. Nolan, PhD.

Education & Training

  • 2016: Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, Immunology
  • 2011: Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., BS, Biology, Economics

Awards & Honors

  • 2016: Parker Senior Fellow Awardee
  • 2016: Early Independence Award, Office of the Director, NIH; Sean N. Parker Faculty Fellow, UCSF; Sandler Faculty Fellow, UCSF
  • 2014: NIH/NCI NRSA F31 Fellow
  • 2011: George D. Smith Stanford Graduate Fellow, Stanford University; Summa Cum Laude, Georgetown University; Sigma Xi Medal for Most Outstanding Undergraduate Research, Georgetown University
  • 2010: Taylor-Weber Memorial Scholar, Georgetown University; Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Scholar, Georgetown University; Phi Beta Kappa; Reardon Fellow, Georgetown University
  • 2009: Baker Scholar, Georgetown University; Student-Athlete Academic Honors, Georgetown University
  • 2008: National Merit Scholarship Recipient