Allison Institute announces appointment of four new members

New members bring expertise in immune therapy resistance, cancer vaccines, bioengineering, tumor evolution and drug development

MD Anderson News Release March 02, 2026

The James P. Allison Institute™ at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced the appointment of four new members, Eric Gardner, Pharm.D., Ph.D., Betty Kim, M.D., Ph.D., Rodrigo Romero, Ph.D., and Hojong Yoon, Ph.D. These exceptional scientists will advance the institute’s ongoing work to attain a deeper understanding of the many aspects of the tumor-immune response in order to bring the benefits of immunotherapy to all patients.

As Allison Institute™ members, these researchers lead impactful research programs aligned with the institute’s priority focus areas and with UT MD Anderson’s mission to end cancer. These new members bring expertise in immunotherapy resistance, cancer vaccines, cellular and protein engineering, tumor evolution, and targeting previously undruggable pathways. Since its launch, the Allison Institute has now recruited 10 members with a wide range of expertise to advance its work.     

“We are proud to welcome these talented scientists to the Allison Institute,” said James P. Allison, Ph.D., director of the Allison Institute and regental professor and chair of Immunology at UT MD Anderson. “These researchers bring a wide array of skill sets and expertise, and I am confident they will uncover compelling new discoveries that will both help us to better understand the immune system and to better deploy immunotherapy to deliver more cures.”

UT MD Anderson launched the Allison Institute to advance exceptional science that integrates immunobiology across disciplines, bringing a more comprehensive understanding of the many biological processes that underlie the tumor-immune response, including basic immunology, neurobiology, genetics and epigenetics, along with new approaches in artificial intelligence, chemical biology and technologies for immune monitoring in patients. The institute fosters a deeply collaborative culture that unites discovery scientists, clinicians and computational scientists, allowing them to integrate laboratory and clinical insights in a synergistic approach that will accelerate the timeline from discovery to impact for patients.

All members are approved by the Allison Institute director, scientific advisory board and UT MD Anderson’s president. Members are provided with seven years of research support aligned with their membership level, with the potential for sustained funding upon promotion. All have appointments in UT MD Anderson academic departments, enabling them to collaborate seamlessly with clinicians and scientists across the institution. Membership levels include:

• Core members: Established researchers widely recognized as leaders in the field for their research accomplishments
• Associate members: Mid-career researchers who have already made paradigm-shifting contributions to the field
• Assistant members: Rising stars making impactful early-career contributions that show potential for groundbreaking discoveries

“These new members include both rising stars and established pioneers in the field, all of whom bring great promise and potential to our work,” said Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., director of scientific programs for the Allison Institute and professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology at UT MD Anderson. “We are pleased to welcome them to our community within the Allison Institute and at UT MD Anderson as we continue to advance our mission to end cancer.”

Eric Gardner, Pharm.D., Ph.D., joins the Allison Institute as an assistant member. Recruited from Weill Cornell Medicine, Gardner is now an assistant professor of Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology at UT MD Anderson. He studies tumor evolution and cancer cell plasticity, particularly in lung cancer and immunotherapy resistance. His research examines how changes in tumor cell state, including chromatin remodeling and lineage plasticity, allow tumors to evade immune control. By defining these processes, he aims to identify strategies that limit tumor adaptation and improve the durability of immunotherapy responses. His work strengthens the Allison Institute’s efforts to address immune resistance in cancer.

Betty Kim, M.D., Ph.D., joining the Allison Institute as a core member, is professor of Neurosurgery at UT MD Anderson. In her laboratory, she studies immune-based therapeutic strategies for brain tumors, with a focus on glioblastoma. Her work centers on engineering mRNA-loaded extracellular vesicles and related nano-enabled delivery approaches to modulate antitumor immune responses. She brings expertise in mRNA therapeutic and vaccine delivery technologies that support cellular engineering and immunotherapy efforts within the Allison Institute. Her research advances translational work linking cancer immunology and neuro-oncology.

Rodrigo Romero, Ph.D., joins the Allison Institute as an assistant member. Recruited from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Romero is now an assistant professor of Genetics at UT MD Anderson. He focuses on tumor lineage plasticity in prostate cancer and the mechanisms that drive disease progression, including those that limit the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy. His laboratory develops engineered model systems to examine the genetic and non-genetic inputs that enable tumor cells to transition between cellular states, including tumor suppressor loss, chromatin regulation and signals from the tumor microenvironment. By defining these mechanisms, his research informs strategies to define how these factors cooperate to promote resistance to targeted therapies and immune-based treatments. His work advances the Allison Institute’s understanding of how tumor evolution, cellular plasticity and antitumor immunity intersect to shape therapeutic response.

Hojong Yoon, Ph.D., joined the Allison Institute in 2025 as an assistant member. Recruited from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Yoon is now an assistant professor of Experimental Therapeutics at UT MD Anderson. He investigates intracellular signaling pathways that regulate immune cell function in cancer. Yoon’s research emphasizes the development and use of molecular glues – small molecules that induce novel protein-protein interactions – to target signaling proteins that are difficult to modulate using conventional approaches. This strategy enables control of previously undruggable pathways and expands therapeutic options for enhancing antitumor immune responses. His work defines new mechanisms for controlling immune signaling in cancer.