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Principal Investigator

Sejal Patwardhan

Dr. Sejal Patwardhan

Principal Investigator

Honors and Recognitions

  • Assistant professor, Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI) Mumbai (2021)
  • DBT- Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (IYBA) from Dept. of Biotechnology, Government of India (2016)
  • IITB post-doctoral fellowship (IPDF) award from Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), India (2015)
  • Outstanding Doctoral Thesis award from HBNI, Dept. of Atomic energy, Government of India (2015)
  • Visiting Scholar fellowship and grant from Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Japan (2013-2016)
  • Scholarship for Indo-Japan collaborative project from Centre for International Collaboration in Science (CICS) – Chennai, India (2013)
  • International Travel award from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India (2013)
  • DAE Graduate Fellowship Award from Dept. of Atomic Energy, Government of India (2009)
  • Junior research Fellowship from CSIR (2008)

Research Interests

  • Autocrine and bystander signaling in cancer
  • Cancer secretome
  • Radioresistance coupled metastasis
  • Biomarkers for cancer prognosis
  • Influence of ECM dynamics on cancer progression
  • Role of tumor derived exosomes in cancer mechanotransduction and invasion

RESEARCH

Despite the spectacular advances made in cancer imaging/monitoring modalities and treatment protocols, cancer treatment often yields limited success stemming from notorious factors namely metastasis, chemo/radioresistance and bystander (non-targeted) effects of therapeutic agents. Hence, investigating multiple facets of cancer biology in an integrative manner to discover the Achilles heel of cancer is of paramount importance for development of smart and effective theranostics. The broad goal of Patwardhan laboratory is to understand multifactorial regulation of cancer exacerbation. With a holistic approach of unravelling signaling networks induced by biochemical and biophysical cues encoded by tumor microenvironment, we aim to identify key regulators at the crossroads of cancer metastasis, therapy resistance and bystander effects in lung and breast cancer models. To achieve this, we employ various approaches covering proteomics, genomics, cell biology and cellular biophysics. Intriguingly, the key regulators projected from basic research are also evaluated in clinical scenarios to test their translational potential either as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers or as therapeutic targets with the ultimate aim of improving the therapeutic gain.

Ongoing Research Projects

  • project1

    Probing the role of extracellular matrix stiffness in exosome secretion and its in…

    Extracellular matrix (ECM) is a meshwork of proteins that assimilates cells into tissue. Mechanical rigidity (st… more

  • project1

    Unravelling the crosstalk of distinct modes of cell-cell communication and its con…

    Cell-cell communication is fundamen… more

  • project1

    Exosomal regulation of invasion coupled bioenergetics of cancer cells

    Emerging paradigm suggest exosomes as one of the crucial mediators of ECM-cancer cells crossta… more

  • project1

    Role of exosomes in radiation-induced effects with relevance to cancer radiotherap…

    The intermixed boundaries of tumor… more

Lab Members

PUBLICATIONS

Contact

Office Contact

Dr. Sejal Patwardhan

KS-338B, Advance Centre for Treatment Research & Education in Cancer, Tata Memorial Centre, (ACTREC), Plot No. 1 & 2, Sector 22, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai-410210. Maharashtra India.+91 (022) 2740 5000/ 6873 5000 Extn-5711 spatwardhan@actrec.gov.in
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