Chrystal M. Paulos, PhD, is a Tenured Associate Professor at Emory University in the Department of Surgery with a joint appointment in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. She has a leadership role within the Winship Cancer Institute as the Director of Translational Research for Cutaneous Malignancies. Dr. Paulos is also a faculty member in the Cancer Immunology Program at Winship and provides extensive service to the Cancer Biology Graduate Program as the Curriculum Chair and member of the Program’s Executive Committee. She holds an endowed chair titled the “David M. Lawson MD Professor of Cancer Research” to recognize her accomplishments and lend continued support to her team’s mission to advance immunotherapy.
Dr. Paulos earned her PhD in Chemistry from Purdue University in 2004. She trained under the mentorship of Dr. Phil Low, studying new ways to target folate receptors with small molecules to treat cancer. She subsequently completed two postdoctoral fellowships. She first trained at the NIH with Dr. Nick Restifo (2004-2008). Here she investigated how the microbiome impacts adoptive T cell transfer (ACT) therapy against melanoma. Next, Dr. Paulos trained as postdoctoral fellow at Penn with Dr. Carl June (2008-2011). Her research focus was on deciphering mechanisms by which co-signaling molecules CD28 and ICOS regulate the antitumor activity of human CAR T cells. Prior to joining Emory University in her current role, Dr. Paulos was a tenured faculty member and Co-Leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the Hollings Cancer Center at MUSC (2011-2020).
The objective of Dr. Paulos’ research program is to develop novel T cell-based therapies for patients. Her team seeks to identify mechanisms underlying protective immunity to tumors, with an emphasis on ACT therapy. Her work embraces both basic and translational science to better understand and adapt human T cells for therapy. These efforts are accomplished via both early phase clinical studies in patients and complemented by mechanistic studies in relevant mouse models. The Paulos laboratory has contributed vast insight into various strategies of how to mount T cell memory responses to tumors. As evidence of this, her lab has been productive, with over 100 high-impact articles that exceed 11,000 citations. Dr. Paulos and her teams’ studies on cellular therapies are funded by Institutional, National, Federal, and Industry grants. The Paulos lab uses cutting-edge mouse tumor models to address the some of the most critical questions facing the field. Importantly, she also works closely with basic immunologists and physician scientists, in the context of clinical trials in patients.
Dr. Paulos is an advocate for the advancement of her trainees. She is an expert at teaching her mentees how to write compelling research grants, evidenced by the fact that many on her team (~17 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research specialist, and clinical residents) have been awarded funding from the NIH, American Cancer Society, Melanoma Research Alliance and/or other foundations over the years. Not only is it important to her to create a diverse/inclusive research environment for her mentees to thrive, but she also works to empower them to develop a strong voice to advocate for themselves and to reach their personal aspirations.
Dr. Paulos is an advocate for women in science in all stages of their career. Her team works with the Winship Woman in Science program to help instill excitement in female high school students about careers in research. She has worked closely with many new female faculty, both basic immunologists and physician scientists, to advance various aspects of their careers. Dr. Paulos has invited many well-known female immunologists to present at the Elkin Lecture at Emory. She is an engaged member of many organizations that promote woman in science: American Association of Immunologists (Speaker Organizer) and SITC (Women in Cancer Immunotherapy Network Leadership Institute).
Dr. Paulos became involved in the SITC organization in 2006 as a postdoctoral fellow. Since that time, she has participated in many national meetings. In 2012, as an independent investigator, her trainees began presenting posters or giving podium talks on their research work. It was then that Dr. Paulos became very involved in SITC, including being a co-chair at the various meetings focused on a range of topics over the years, including cytokines in T cell biology to advances in adoptive immunotherapy. From 2015 and onward, Dr. Paulos has worked with local experts to educate clinicians on emerging immunotherapy in a SITC program titled Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy™ (ACI). Starting in 2020, she became an executive ACI committee member to continue to grow the program to educate the medical oncologists on emerging therapies for patients. In 2018, Dr. Paulos became a SITC Champion, where she continually works with SITC leadership to address the needs in the field and provides communication between the society and her home institution. Most recently, Dr. Paulos has become actively involved in the Awards Review Committee and the Cancer Cell Therapy Taskforce. Also, she became an organizer for the SITC Cancer Immunotherapy Winter School (2024-2027), a program, taught by leading experts, which provides a deep understanding of the core principles of tumor immunology and immunotherapy. Dr. Paulos is enthusiastic about her research, her trainees, and bolstering the growth of SITC for years to come.