Shyamala Maheswaran

Shyamala Maheswaran has developed methods to culture and expand circulating tumor cells ex vivo, creating CTC-derived organoids that enable drug sensitivity testing from a simple blood draw. Her research on epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in CTCs has revealed how tumor cells acquire invasive properties during bloodstream transit and extravasation. She leads translational programs using CTC-derived models for personalized drug selection in metastatic breast cancer.