Pulmonologist Houghton joins Center

Dr. A. McGarry Houghton joined the Hutchinson Center faculty last month. He plans to study mouse models of lung cancer in his new Clinical Research Division lab.

"In the models, we are focused on the tumor microenvironment, meaning the noncancerous cells in and around the tumor. Specifically, we look at how certain cells from the immune system, such as neutrophils, actually make tumor grow faster and become more invasive," said Houghton, who also has an appointment at the University of Washington in pulmonary and critical care.
 
Houghton comes to the Center from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he spent six years as a physician. In the same period, he also served as an assistant professor of pulmonary/critical care at the University of Pittsburgh. Houghton received his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine.
 
Houghton said he was drawn by Center scientists' interest in expanding solid tumor research, as well as by the Center's infrastructure, resources and quality of research.

"McGarry is a very bright, creative young laboratory investigator who has thought long and hard about the problem of lung cancer," said Dr. Fred Appelbaum, director of the Clinical Research Division and executive director of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. "Importantly, his approach ties together epidemiology observations and the molecular basis of the disease, with the goal of providing us new ways to prevent and treat the number one cause of cancer-related deaths."