Dr. Gutkind is Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at UC San Diego, and Associate Director of Basic Science at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. His research explores emerging information on dysregulated signaling circuitries and individual genomic and molecular alterations to identify new therapeutic options to prevent and treat cancer. His basic studies and translational efforts have made an impact in the development of individualized, mechanism-based molecular-targeted (precision) anticancer treatments and immunotherapeutic strategies.

His research is focused on the study of growth-promoting signal transduction pathways, the nature of the dysregulated signaling networks in cancer with emphasis on head and neck cancer, and the use of genomic, proteomic, and system biology approaches to study cancer progression. The four primary research areas in his laboratory include the study of: 1) G proteins and GPCR signaling in cell growth control and cancer; 2) head and neck cancer (HNSCC); focused on precision prevention and treatment options; 3) immune oncology, with emphasis on the study of multimodal precision immunotherapies for HNSCC and other malignancies; and 4) the role of GPCRs in cancer immune evasion and as novel immunotherapeutic targets.