Justin Balko, PharmD, Ph.D.

Justin M. Balko obtained his Doctorate in Pharmacy from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2004. After completion of his PhD in the Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics track of the Pharmaceutical Sciences program at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY, he joined the laboratory of Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, in 2009 as a postdoctoral research fellow. Dr. Balko is currently an Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, and co-leads the VICC Breast Cancer Research Program. His laboratory focuses on identifying biomarkers and mechanisms of drug sensitivity or resistance in breast cancer and other tumor types, ways to enhance response rates to immunotherapy by targeting cancer-specific signals of immune suppression, and the biological mechanisms of immune-related adverse events to immunotherapies. His laboratory receives or has received funding from the NIH/NCI/NHLBI, the Department of Defense, The IBC Network Foundation, the V Foundation for Cancer Research, The Mary Kay Foundation, Stand Up 2 Cancer/AACR, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and Susan G. Komen.