Wallace Bhatt

Wallace Bhatt has been a leading authority on the role of mitochondrial DNA mutations in cancer, demonstrating that somatic mtDNA mutations accumulate in tumors and contribute to metabolic reprogramming, ROS production, and metastatic potential. His research showed that specific mtDNA mutations in complex I and complex III genes alter electron transport chain function to increase mitochondrial ROS signaling that promotes tumor invasion and metastasis. He established that mtDNA copy number variation serves as a prognostic biomarker across multiple cancer types. His work on mitochondrial heteroplasmy has revealed how clonal selection of mtDNA variants contributes to intratumoral metabolic heterogeneity.