Rate My Professor Marlys Witte

Marlys Witte, MD, serves as Professor of Surgery, Neurosurgery, and Pediatrics at The University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, alongside appointments as a member of the Graduate Faculty and Professor at the BIO5 Institute. She is Director of Student Research for the College of Medicine and Secretary-General of the International Society of Lymphology, representing 42 nations. Witte obtained her MD degree from New York University School of Medicine in 1960, followed by an internship in Medicine at North Carolina Memorial Hospital from 1960 to 1961, and residency in Medicine at Bellevue Hospital from 1961 to 1965. As a founding member and long-standing faculty in the Department of Surgery, she has directed an internationally recognized Lymphedema-Angiodysplasia Clinic.

Her research focuses on clinical and basic lymphology, encompassing lymphatics, lymph, lymphocytes, and lymph nodes in health and disease; blood/lymphatic vascular endothelial cell biology and pathobiology; hepatosplanchnic lymphatic/microcirculatory physiology; small animal models; in vivo lymphatic imaging; thoracic duct lymph drainage; lymphogenous cancer spread; and genomics/proteomics of lymphedema-angiodysplasia syndromes. Witte has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications, including "Lymphatic pathophysiology" in Rutherford's Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy (2023), "Manual Lymph Drainage for Alzheimer's Dementia: A Clinical Trial Whose Time Has Come?" in Lymphology (2025), and "Cancer metastasis through the lymphatic versus blood vessels" in Clinical & Experimental Metastasis (2024). She has secured continuous NIH funding since her residency, served as Program Director of the University’s NIH General Clinical Research Center, and holds memberships in the Arizona Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sarver Heart Center, and Viper Institute. Witte has mentored hundreds of medical students and others through NIH multi-institute training grants since 1982. Her awards include the College of Medicine Faculty Mentoring Award (2021), Gold-Headed Cane Award, Founders Day Award, and Virginia Furrow Education and Innovation Award from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, as well as international honors. Educational contributions center on a curriculum exploring medical ignorance to cultivate scientific curiosity.