Arnav Mehta, MD, PhD
Discovery of selective vulnerabilities of plastic and mesenchymal tumor cell states in pancreatic cancer
The study addresses a major driver of pancreatic cancer treatment resistance by identifying vulnerabilities in the cells that resist chemotherapy. Three approaches: testing predicted pancreatic cancer vulnerabilities in mesenchymal cells found in the Broad Institute Cancer Dependency Map; whole-genome genetic screening to identify pancreatic-cancer-specific cells that develop into connective tissue, blood vessels and lymphatic tissue; and chemical compound screening in novel lineage-barcoded pancreatic cancer cell lines to identify how plastic cells react.
Dr. Mehta completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University in mathematics and chemistry, then combined MD and PhD degrees at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the California Institute of Technology. He did his PhD work in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. David Baltimore, discovering novel roles of microRNAs in hematopoietic stem cell function and in leukemia. After an internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a combined hematology/oncology fellowship across MGH, Brigham and Women’s and Dana-Farber, he completed postdoctoral research with Dr. Eric Lander and Dr. Nir Hacohen, developing experimental and computational methods to study resistance mechanisms in pancreatic, gastroesophageal and colorectal cancers. He now sits in the gastrointestinal cancer group at the MGH Cancer Center, leading translational studies across several GI clinical trials.
Seed grants start at $50,000 — awarded by scientists, reported on annually.
Donate →Arnav Mehta, MD, PhD
Discovery of selective vulnerabilities of plastic and mesenchymal tumor cell states in pancreatic cancer
The study addresses a major driver of pancreatic cancer treatment resistance by identifying vulnerabilities in the cells that resist chemotherapy. Three approaches: testing predicted pancreatic cancer vulnerabilities in mesenchymal cells found in the Broad Institute Cancer Dependency Map; whole-genome genetic screening to identify pancreatic-cancer-specific cells that develop into connective tissue, blood vessels and lymphatic tissue; and chemical compound screening in novel lineage-barcoded pancreatic cancer cell lines to identify how plastic cells react.
Dr. Mehta completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University in mathematics and chemistry, then combined MD and PhD degrees at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the California Institute of Technology. He did his PhD work in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. David Baltimore, discovering novel roles of microRNAs in hematopoietic stem cell function and in leukemia. After an internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a combined hematology/oncology fellowship across MGH, Brigham and Women’s and Dana-Farber, he completed postdoctoral research with Dr. Eric Lander and Dr. Nir Hacohen, developing experimental and computational methods to study resistance mechanisms in pancreatic, gastroesophageal and colorectal cancers. He now sits in the gastrointestinal cancer group at the MGH Cancer Center, leading translational studies across several GI clinical trials.
Seed grants start at $50,000 — awarded by scientists, reported on annually.
Donate →