Principal Investigator

RESEARCH

Main goal of our lab is to understand the “Biology of tumor-microenvironment (TME)”. During tumorigenesis tumor cells constantly interact with the surrounding microenvironment, which includes various stromal cell populations (fibroblasts, immune cells, Endothelial cells etc.) and ECM. Due to these bi-directional cross-talk, tumor cells convert the normal stroma to a pro-tumorigenic state. These stromal cells play a crucial role in tumor development and metastasis, we will specifically focus on understanding the multicellular complex cross-talk between tumor and stromal cell populations. Mainly, our lab is interested to explore the role of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) in various cancers including pancreas, lung and breast etc. In addition, our lab will also further explore the immune microenvironment and its interactions with other stromal cell populations during tumor growth. We will use various cell and molecular biological methods including in-vitro co-culture organoids as well as in-vivo mouse xenograft models.