Ana Gomes

Ana Gomes investigates the metabolic adaptations that enable disseminated tumor cells to survive in a dormant state for extended periods, revealing critical roles for autophagy, fatty acid oxidation, and mitochondrial fitness in maintaining cancer cell viability during quiescence. Her laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has shown that dormant cancer cells rewire their metabolism to rely on lipid catabolism and oxidative phosphorylation rather than glycolysis, creating metabolic vulnerabilities that could be therapeutically exploited. Her work bridges the fields of cancer metabolism and dormancy biology to develop metabolic strategies for eliminating residual disease.