Emily Bhatt

Emily Bhatt investigates the paradoxical relationship between obesity and immunotherapy outcomes in cancer, where obesity appears to improve IO response in certain contexts despite its overall negative effect on cancer biology. Her research has analyzed large clinical datasets demonstrating that obese patients with melanoma, NSCLC, and RCC derive superior survival benefit from checkpoint inhibitors compared to normal-weight patients, the so-called obesity paradox in IO. She is investigating the immunological mechanisms underlying this finding, including how obesity alters T cell function, tumor immune contexture, and PD-1/PD-L1 expression. Her work may reveal metabolic-immune interactions that can be exploited to improve IO outcomes.