Affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois Chicago

Ekrem Emrah Er, PhD, received his BSc from Bilkent University, Ankara, and his PhD from Harvard University, Cambridge. He completed his postdoctoral training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and joined the University of Illinois Chicago as an assistant professor in October 2019.

His laboratory investigates how biophysical characteristics of cancer cells impact their interaction with the immune system within the tumor microenvironment by using biophysical, biochemical, and transcriptomic approaches in mouse models and patient samples. His research is supported by the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society–Illinois Cancer Research Fund, Concern Foundation, Michael Reese Foundation, and the University of Illinois Cancer Center.

Dr. Er serves as a co-leader of the Tumor Microenvironment Working Group at the University of Illinois Cancer Center and is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research.