Mary Markiewicz, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics & Immunology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, a member of the University of Kansas Cancer Center, and the Scientific Director of the University of Kansas Medical Center Flow Cytometry Core. She is a cellular immunologist with a strong interest in both tumor immunology and type 1 diabetes research. Dr. Markiewicz received her PhD in Immunology from the University of Chicago, where she performed tumor immunology studies in the lab of Dr. Thomas Gajewski. Dr. Markiewicz then moved to the Department of Pathology and Immunology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and began her studies on the NKG2D immune receptor with a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the American Cancer Society in the lab of Dr. Andrey Shaw. After completing her postdoctoral training, she became a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine. During this time, propelled by funding from a Junior Faculty Award from the American Diabetes Association, she began her studies investigating the role of NKG2D in autoimmune diabetes, as well as continuing studies investigating the role of NKG2D in tumor immunity. Since joining the University of Kansas Medical Center faculty in 2014, Dr. Markiewicz has continued her studies into the role of NKG2D signaling in autoimmune diabetes and cancer immunotherapy strategies with funding from the V Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the University of Kansas Cancer Center. In addition, her laboratory has recently identified new ways to enhance Treg function in GvHD using the xenoGvHD model.
