Damon Runyon Researchers

Intra-tumoral heterogeneity (ITH), or the evolution of distinct cell types within a tumor, underlies most fatal features of cancer and presents a great therapeutic challenge. Using small cell lung cancer (SCLC), a highly heterogeneous and lethal form of lung cancer, as a model, Dr. Bhattacharya [Robert Black Fellow] will study how ITH arises during cancer progression. She will employ emerging genomics techniques to characterize the cellular subtypes that comprise SCLC tumors and identify “druggable” transcription factors which, if targeted, could reduce tumor heterogeneity in this cancer. By profiling thousands of cells from treatment-naïve and therapy-resistant tumors, Dr. Bhattacharya aims to identify the “master-regulators” of the cellular subtypes that expand upon treatment in SCLC. She will then evaluate the role of these factors in human patient-derived cell lines, with the goal of uncovering novel mechanisms underlying ITH in human cancers. Dr. Bhattacharya received her PhD from Cornell University and her BS from the University of Calcutta.