Dr. Deanne Tibbitts is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Oncological Sciences and a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program in the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University.  Dr. Tibbitts is an interdisciplinary scientist whose mission is to reduce the burden of immunotherapy-related toxicities for people living with cancer through the identification of person-centered risk factors and development of novel interventions.

A native of Atlanta, Dr. Tibbitts obtained her bachelor's degree in Genetics and Cellular Biology from the University of Georgia and her PhD in Molecular and Medical Genetics at OHSU, where she studied molecular mechanisms of leukemia development and targeted cancer therapeutics. Dr. Tibbitts completed an NIH-funded clinical research fellowship in complementary and integrative health at the National University of Natural Medicine before returning to OHSU to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer survivorship.

As a BIRCWH scholar, Dr. Tibbitts is conducting a prospective study of immune-related adverse events during cancer immunotherapy. The goal of the study is to identify sex differences in symptom profiles and potential biological and clinical mechanisms to explain differences in treatment-related symptoms. Dr. Tibbitts’s work also integrates passive measurement technology to explore the impact of cancer treatment on functioning during daily life.