Sarah Mcwhirter

Sarah McWhirter, PhD, is Director of Scientific Programs at the Parker Institute for Cancer PICI. Her career spans immunology discovery research and the development of novel therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. At PICI, she works with leadership to shape scientific strategy to accelerate development of novel cancer immunotherapies, including cancer vaccines. Before joining PICI, she served as Vice President and Head of Biology at Lycia Therapeutics, where she led a multidisciplinary team advancing extracellular targeted protein degraders for autoimmune and allergic diseases. Previously, at Aduro Biotech, she led the preclinical program that produced a first-in-human STING-targeting cancer immunotherapy and served as Aduro’s primary R&D lead for a multiyear strategic partnership with Novartis. She has contributed to numerous peer-reviewed publications, including foundational discoveries in innate immune signaling.