Heather McGee Lab

Our laboratory is working to understand the mechanisms by which radiation activates tissue-resident immune cells in unique gastrointestinal tumor microenvironments. Leveraging a combination of genetically engineered cell lines and transgenic mouse tumor models, we seek to define the cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to tumor progression and anti-tumor immunity in a variety of gastrointestinal cancers.

• Radiation-Induced Activation of Tissue-Resident Immune Cells in Liver Cancer: We use a genetically engineered mouse model of liver cancer to study how radiation activates tissue resident immune cells. We have discovered a novel mechanism of radiation-induced immune activation and are using cutting-edge transcriptomic technologies to investigate this mechanism in collaboration with Nicholas Banovich, Ph.D. (Integrated Cancer Genomics Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute TGen).
• Immune Dysregulation in Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer: In collaboration with Stephen Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. (Center for Precision Medicine, City of Hope^®), we have identified a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in an immune-related gene that increases the risk of early-onset colorectal cancer and drives cancer progression. We are currently collaborating with Zhen Chen, Ph.D. to investigate the epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of this gene in immunosurveillance and understand tumor cell-immune cell interactions that drive colorectal cancer progression in young patients (younger than 50 years old).
• Radiation-Induced Activation of NK Cells to Enhance Cytotoxicity against Pancreatic Cancer: We are investigating a mechanism by which radiation induces stress ligands to enhance NK cell cytotoxicity against human pancreatic cancer. This project is a collaboration with Michael Caligiuri, M.D. (Department of Hematologic Malignancies, City of Hope).
• Radiation-Induced Inflammasome Activation in Gastric Cancer: We are investigating the role of radiation-induced inflammasome activation, pyroptosis and alarmin production in gastric cancer. This project involves the development of a novel murine orthotopic model of gastric cancer in collaboration with Thinzar Lwin, M.D., M.S. (Department of Surgery, City of Hope) and is funded by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
• Targeting Cytokine Networks and the Immune Response in Radiation-Induced Lung Fibrosis: We are studying the role of a novel cytokine in a murine model of radiation-induced lung fibrosis (RILF) with the goal of therapeutically targeting this cytokine to reduce side effects in patients who receive lung irradiation.

To view more of Dr. McGee's publications, click below:

• April 2026 -  Dr. McGee was invited to moderate a session called "Combining Forces - Lessons Learned Integrating Radiotherapy and Immunotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer and Beyond" at the American Radium Society Annual Meeting in Newport Beach, CA.
• January 2026 -  We presented our work on "Genetic Variation and Regulation of MICA Alters Natural Killer Cell-Mediated Immunosurveillance in Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer" at the 2026 ASCO GI Symposium.
• December 2025 - Graduate student Sienna Rocha passed her qualifying exam. Congratulations, Sienna!
• August 2025 - Sienna Rocha was 1 of 8 graduate students chosen to present at City of Hope’s 9th Annual Biomedical Research Graduate Student Symposium. Congratulations, Sienna!
• June 2025 - The McGee Lab is thrilled to welcome Taojian Tu, PhD to the lab as our new Staff Scientist. Dr. Tu completed his Ph.D and post-doctoral fellowship in Dr. Stiles' lab at University of Southern California, where he studied how liver-resident Kupffer cells contribute to liver cancer progression.
• March 2025 - Dr. McGee was a co-author on a manuscript in Lancet Oncology: Proceedings of the National Cancer Institute Workshop on combining immunotherapy with radiotherapy: challenges and opportunities for clinical translation - ScienceDirect
• January 2025 - Jaeho Kim gave an outstanding presentation at City of Hope's "Evolving Story" Post-Doctoral Seminar Series.  We are so proud of him!
• December 2024 - Dr. McGee was selected to represent the Cancer Immunotherapeutics Program and give a lightning talk at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Annual Retreat.
• September 2024 - We are excited to shared the news of our discovery that Genetic Variation in MICA Alters Natural Killer Cell-Mediated Immunosurveillance in EO-CRC. This was a collaboration with Dr. Stephen Gruber's lab which is now published as a preprint on medRxiv
• July 2024 - The McGee Lab is thrilled to welcome Sienna Rocha, 2nd year graduate student, to join our lab for her doctoral research!  She will be our first graduate student and we are excited to have her join our team!
• June 2024 - Dr. McGee was a co-author on a Viewpoint article in JAMA Oncology: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2819646
• May 2024 - Dr. McGee was invited to speak at the American Radium Society Annual meeting.
• April 2024 - Dr. McGee was awarded the AACR-Debbie’s Dream Foundation Career Development Award for Gastric Cancer Research at the Annual AACR Annual meeting
• February 2024 - Rotating graduate student Sienna Rocha is a co-author on a paper in Nature Cell Biology from her previous research at the Salk Institute:  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41556-023-01343-1
• January 2024 - Dr. McGee was invited to speak at the NCI/IOTN/SITC/AAI Workshop on “Combining Immunotherapy with Radiotherapy” at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland: https://events.cancer.gov/nci/radioimmunotherapy/agenda
• January 2024 - Sienna Rocha did an outstanding job presenting her research during her end-of-rotation talk for City of Hope’s Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences.
• November 2023 -  The McGee Lab is happy to welcome Sienna Rocha to the lab as a rotating graduate student. Sienna previously worked as a research associate in the lab of Christina Towers, Ph.D., at the Salk Institute.
• October 2023 -  Jaeho Kim published a paper from his Ph.D. in the lab of Heung Kyu Lee, Ph.D., entitled Supplementation with a high-glucose drink stimulates anti-tumor immune responses to glioblastoma via gut microbiota modulation in Cell Reports: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/pdfExtended/S2211-1247(23)01232-9.
• September 2023 -  The McGee Lab is happy to welcome Jaeho Kim, M.D., Ph.D., to the lab as a post doctoral fellow. Dr. Kim completed his Ph.D. in Immunology at KAIST in Dr. Heung Kyu Lee’s lab.
• June 2023 - Dr. McGee received the AACR-Debbie’s Dream Foundation Career Development Award for Gastric Cancer Research: https://www.aacr.org/professionals/research-funding/funded-research/career-development-awards/aacr-debbies-dream-foundation-career-development-award-for-gastric-cancer-research/
• May 2023 -  Dr. McGee was invited to speak at the Society for Natural Immunity (SNI) Symposium on “NK cells and ILCs in Cancer” at the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) 2023 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.: https://www.immunology2023.org/session/sni-symposium/

We invite you to read more about our research on this website and on Twitter at @HMcGeeMDPhD. You are welcome to email Dr. McGee with questions about research or job opportunities at [email protected].