October 10, 2025
Please join us in w
elcoming Victor S. Cortez, PhD, to the University of Pittsburgh! Dr. Cortez is a tenure-stream Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology, effective September 1, 2025.
Joining us from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Dr. Cortez will develop an independently funded research program focused on understanding the complex interplay between immune cells and other cells in the body. His research will investigate how inflammation induces tissue adaptation and define the consequences of those changes for organ function, immunity, and physiology.
After receiving his undergraduate degree in microbiology and immunology from the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Cortez earned his PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. Under the mentorship of Dr. Marco Colonna, he focused on how tissues shape the unique qualities of resident immune cells. He completed postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Richard Locksley at UCSF, focusing on how immune cells and inflammation affect tissue physiology. Building on this research, Dr. Cortez will initially focus on a type of innate lymphoid cell (ILC) called ILC2, which develop memory-like properties in response to helminth infections and coordinate intestinal adaptation that leads to lasting immunity.
With 18 published papers, Dr. Cortez has presented his work in posters, presentations, and as an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences. He has earned several major recognitions for his work, including as a Cancer Research Institute Irvington Fellow, a Yale University Intersections Science Fellow, and a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Eddie Mendez Scholar, and he was selected as an American Association of Immunologists Public Policy Fellow.
Welcome to the department and congratulations on your new position, Dr. Cortez!