William Bhatt

William Bhatt examines how mTOR signaling coordinates anabolic metabolism and suppresses autophagy to support cancer cell biomass accumulation. His research has characterized the molecular mechanisms by which mTORC1 stimulates protein synthesis through S6K1 and 4E-BP1, lipid synthesis through SREBP, and nucleotide synthesis to fuel cancer cell growth. He has investigated how mTOR inhibitor-induced autophagy provides an adaptive survival mechanism that limits the efficacy of rapalogs and competitive mTOR inhibitors. His work on mTOR-autophagy crosstalk has motivated combination strategies with autophagy inhibitors such as hydroxychloroquine to improve anti-tumor efficacy.