Maya Bhatt

Maya Bhatt has investigated the neural mechanisms governing brain metastasis colonization, demonstrating that metastatic cancer cells co-opt neurotrophin signaling, particularly BDNF-TrkB pathways, to survive and proliferate in the brain microenvironment. Her work on astrocyte-tumor cell crosstalk has revealed that reactive astrocytes provide survival signals to brain metastatic cells through gap junction-mediated transfer of cGAMP and other second messengers. Her research on the neural niche that supports metastatic seeding has identified targetable neural ligand-receptor interactions that could prevent or treat brain metastases.