Kamiya Mehla, PhD

405.271.8001 Ext. 52239

Kamiya-Mehla@ouhsc.edu

Currently recruiting new students and trainees

Keywords
Tumor Immunology, Immunotherapy, Immunometabolism, Immunosuppression, Cancer Cachexia, Pancreatic Cancer 

Mehla Lab Overview
Pancreatic tumors are immune-quiescent (“cold microenvironment”). Multiple tumor cell intrinsic and extrinsic factors shape tumor immune microenvironment that culminates into nonexistent frequency as well as dysfunction of anti-tumor immune cells. In addition, tumor-derived factors modulate immune microenvironment at the distant systemic sites to aid in the dissemination of tumor cells and preconditioning of metastatic niches. To date, immunotherapies have shown limited success in pancreatic cancer. Thus, the major goal of my lab is to study the tumor-immune cell cross talk in pancreatic cancer. My lab is interested in elucidating the signaling mechanisms that contribute to tumor immunosuppression and refractive response to immunotherapies. 1) My lab utilizes novel molecular biology/immunological tools and genetically engineered murine models to interrogate tumor-derived factors/metabolites that augment the activity of immunosuppressive players and prevent the function of anti-tumor immune cells in pancreatic tumor microenvironment. 2) We also investigate the crosstalk between the immunosuppressive myeloid cells and other immune subsets to identify the key signaling pathways that underlie systemic immunosuppression. 3) In addition, we study the role of immune players in driving cachexia, a critical complication of PDACs that contributes to poor quality of life and high mortality rates in cancer patients. Our lab’s long-term goal is to develop novel immuno-metabolic therapeutic strategies that attenuate tumor burden, and improve overall survival and quality of life in pancreatic cancer patients.