Research Focus

The Datta Laboratory is focused on deciphering and targeting the dominant tolerogenic myeloid cell-derived signaling mechanisms that govern T-cell dysfunction and stromal inflammation in pancreatic cancer. We are particularly interested in the phenotypic and functional heterogeneity of granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and their fitness and persistence programs in the pancreatic tumor microenvironment. We are also deeply interested in developing novel nanoengineering and tissue engineering strategies to abolish tolerogenic signaling in MDSCs to mitigate stromal inflammation and invigorate antitumor immune responses in pancreatic cancer. Our clinical and translational research interests are in optimizing the physiologic and biologic selection of patients for neoadjuvant therapies in GI cancer, leveraging the neoadjuvant platform to discover novel predictive biomarkers of therapeutic response and resistance, and understanding the intersection between social determinants of health inequities and molecular programs that drive key oncologic outcomes in pancreatic cancer patients.