Anna Bhatt

Anna Bhatt studies how cancer-derived exosomes transfer functional cargo to normal cells, reprogramming them toward cancer-supportive states in a process she describes as cellular education. Her research demonstrated that tumor exosomes transfer oncogenic mRNA, microRNA, and proteins to fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells, inducing pro-tumorigenic phenotypes in these recipient cells. She characterized the mechanisms of selective cargo loading into exosomes by cancer cells and the functional consequences of cargo transfer in recipient cells. Her work reveals exosomes as vectors of non-cell-autonomous oncogenic programming.