WELCOME TO THE PITARRESI LAB
We study cellular plasticity and tumor-host interactions in pancreatic cancer
The Pitarresi Lab focuses on mechanisms of cellular plasticity that drive tumorigenesis, metastasis, and cell fate decisions. We also develop mouse models to study tumor-host interactions, including cancer cachexia and immunosuppression. We leverage our expertise in mouse modeling, 3D organoid technologies, multi-omic profiling, and state-of-art screening approaches to study the functional consequences of cellular plasticity in pancreatic cancer. We actively seek to translate our basic science discoveries into new therapeutic avenues for pancreatic cancer patients.
To date, our efforts have been applied to discover new drivers of pancreatic cancer metastasis, to unveil the epigenetic landscape of acinar-to-ductal metaplasia (ADM), and to build new pancreatic cancer mouse models that more faithfully represent the human disease.
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Latest News
Oct 2026: Congrats to graduate students Paula Vo for winning the best poster award and Calvin Johnson for being selected for an invited talk at our UMass Chan Cancer Center Retreat!
Sept 2026: NOA Day! Thank you to NCI staff for working to get our R56 funded! Excited to see where this work leads us!
August 2026: Congrats to postdoc Nikita Bhalerao on being promoted to Instructor!
July 2026: Congrats to postdoc Nikita Bhalerao on being selected into the Leading Edge Fellows program!
July 2026: Our summer research student, Tanushree, presented her work on potential sex differences in cachexia at the SURP student symposium. You did a great job this summer and looking forward to seeing what you accomplish in your career!
July 2026: The Cancer Cachexia Society interviewed postdoc Nikita Bhalerao about her research. It is a fantastic article, check it out here: https://tinyurl.com/2sf6vxjs
June 2026: F31 Fellow from the lab, Jessica Peura, presenting her work on pancreatic cancer metastasis at the Metastasis Research Society meeting!
May 2026: NOA Day!! Congrats to postdoc Nikita Bhalerao for getting her notice of award to officially start her Early K99-R00 from the NCI!!
April 2026: Students Calvin Johnson and Ethan Chang learning everything about immunology at AAI 2026!
April 2026: Congrats to student Calvin Johnson on getting selected for a talk at our IMP retreat!
March 2026: Congrats to students Ethan Chang and Paula Vo for passing their qualification exams! Can’t wait to see what you both accomplish.
Jan 2026: Congrats to postdoc Nikita Bhalerao for scoring 3% on the first submission of her K99-R00!
Nov 2025: Congrats to postdoc Nikita Bhalerao for winning the National Pancreas Foundation’s Rising Star Award! Check out this piece written by UMass Chan to hear about the award and what it means to Nikita!
Oct 2025: Congrats to grad student Calvin Johnson for being awarded a talk at the UMass Chan Cancer Bio Retreat and for Jessica Peura for winning the top poster award! Proud PI moment today!!
Sept 2025: Congrats to grad student Jessica Peura for officially being awarded her NIH/NCI F31 Fellowship! Check out this piece written by UMass Chan about Jessica and her research journey!
…and a link to the video the made about Jess
Sept 2025: Congrats to postdoc Nikita Bhalerao for winning an AACR Scholar in Training Award to attend the Pancreatic AACR conference in Boston!
Sept 2025: Excited to present our lab’s cachexia story at the Cancer Cachexia Society meeting!
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The Pitarresi Lab is affiliated with the Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Molecular Cell & Cancer Biology, and UMass Cancer Center at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.
Interested in joining?
We are constantly looking for passionate and talented researchers (postdocs, graduate students, MD and MD/PhD students, undergraduates, and research technicians). Contact Dr. Pitarresi if interested.