A. McGarry Houghton named first holder of the Satya and Rao Remala Family Endowed Chair

McGarry Houghton, MD, a pulmonary physician-scientist whose work explores the immune system’s role in cancer and lung cancer early detection, has been named the first recipient of the Satya and Rao Remala Family Endowed Chair at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

Houghton, who oversees lung cancer research at Fred Hutch, describes himself as a “lung tumor microenvironment person.” With a background in noncancerous lung diseases, Houghton’s research delves into how the human immune system responds to cancer. To advance that research, Houghton collects tissue from lung cancer surgeries and biopsy specimens “to try to understand what has gone right and what has gone wrong with the immune system.” He is also deeply involved in developing ways to detect lung cancer before it has progressed, including investigating how antibodies can be enlisted to fight cancer.

"I'm a pulmonologist, not an oncologist, by training, so I’m trained in the diagnostic piece,” said Houghton, formerly at the University of Pittsburgh. “As someone who sees patients, I’m very familiar with our clinical limitations when it comes to early detection and how much we need help there. The Remala family is particularly interested in early detection and health care disparities and getting these early detection strategies to benefit people from underdeveloped countries.”