Maria Soledad Sosa

Maria Soledad Sosa investigates the molecular mechanisms that sustain dormant disseminated tumor cells, demonstrating that autophagy and specific integrin signaling programs are essential for DTC survival during quiescence and that targeting these pathways can eliminate dormant cells before they reactivate. Her work showed that DTCs undergo epigenetic reprogramming during dormancy entry, activating a transcriptional program distinct from both primary tumor and proliferative metastatic cells. She has identified integrin-mediated signaling from the ECM niche as a key survival mechanism for dormant cells. Her research is developing therapeutic strategies to eliminate dormant cancer cells during the window between dissemination and metastatic outgrowth.