Sharanya Sivanand, PhD

Dr. Sivanand aims to study how metabolic alterations impact pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma metastases. Pancreatic tumors primarily metastasize to the liver and the lung. It is known that genetics, tissue of origin, and tumor microenvironments can impose metabolic demands on cancer cells. However, it is unclear whether primary tumors and associated metastases during disease progression are metabolically different. Her research will provide insight into metabolic demands of tumors originating in the pancreas and identify metabolic liabilities that may restrict metastatic growth to certain tissue types.