Susan Kaech, Ph.D., is Executive Vice President of Immunology, and leads the Immunology team at the Allen Institute, a bold effort to reveal the foundational biological principles of the immune system that shape human health and drive chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Susan Kaech is internationally recognized for discovering how the immune system forms long-lasting memory to protect us from infections and how these same immune cells can be disabled by cancer. She revealed surprising ways tumors drain nutrients, create stress, and reshape their surroundings to weaken the body’s T-cell defenses. Her innovative work at the crossroads of immunology, metabolism, and neuroscience is helping drive the development of new therapies for cancer and infectious diseases.

Kaech previously led the NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and graduated from the University of Washington and Stanford University, where she obtained a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology.

Kaech has served as the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University and sits on the advisory boards of leading cancer research organizations and biotech companies. She also plays leadership roles at the American Association of Immunologists, is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition to these honors, Kaech has won the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.