Aimee Bhatt

Aimee Bhatt has advanced the understanding of how BET bromodomain inhibition modulates anti-tumor immunity, demonstrating that BRD4 directly regulates PD-L1 transcription and that BET inhibition downregulates PD-L1 expression on tumor cells while simultaneously enhancing T cell effector function. Her research showed that combining BET inhibitors with checkpoint immunotherapy produces synergistic anti-tumor effects in preclinical models of melanoma and NSCLC. She established that BET inhibitor resistance can be overcome with BET-targeting PROTACs that degrade rather than inhibit BRD4. Her translational work is informing clinical trial design for BET inhibitor plus immunotherapy combinations.