PitarresiLab
@pitarresilab.bsky.social
Jason R. Pitarresi PhD
Father. Assistant Professor @umasschan.bsky.social
Studying pancreatic cancer, cellular plasticity/metastasis, and tumor-host interactions.
www.PitarresiLab.com
Father. Assistant Professor @umasschan.bsky.social
Studying pancreatic cancer, cellular plasticity/metastasis, and tumor-host interactions.
www.PitarresiLab.com
Pinned
I'm excited to share the lab’s new paper on PDAC-associated cachexia on bioRxiv today, led by star postdoc @nikitab.bsky.social
“Pancreatic cancer cachexia is mediated by PTHrP-driven disruption of adipose de novo lipogenesis”
A 🧵 below, if you are interested...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
“Pancreatic cancer cachexia is mediated by PTHrP-driven disruption of adipose de novo lipogenesis”
A 🧵 below, if you are interested...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thanks @umasschan.bsky.social for writing about postdoc @nikitab.bsky.social in the lab and her recent Rising Star Award from the National Pancreas Foundation and fellowship award from the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance. Excited to go to the NPF awards gala in Boston!
www.umassmed.edu/news/news-ar...
www.umassmed.edu/news/news-ar...
Postdoctoral fellow Nikita Bhalerao honored by National Pancreas Foundation
Postdoc Nikita Bhalerao, PhD, received the 2025 Rising Star Award from the National Pancreas Foundation and a fellowship from the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance.
www.umassmed.edu
October 24, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Thanks @umasschan.bsky.social for writing about postdoc @nikitab.bsky.social in the lab and her recent Rising Star Award from the National Pancreas Foundation and fellowship award from the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance. Excited to go to the NPF awards gala in Boston!
www.umassmed.edu/news/news-ar...
www.umassmed.edu/news/news-ar...
Congrats to @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social in the lab for being selected to give a talk at our cancer center retreat. You did a fantastic job!!
October 8, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Congrats to @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social in the lab for being selected to give a talk at our cancer center retreat. You did a fantastic job!!
Congrats to postdoc @nikitab.bsky.social for being awarded an AACR Scholar-in-Training award for this year's #AACRPan25 conference.
Be sure to check out her poster # B049 today from 6-9pm!
Be sure to check out her poster # B049 today from 6-9pm!
September 30, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Congrats to postdoc @nikitab.bsky.social for being awarded an AACR Scholar-in-Training award for this year's #AACRPan25 conference.
Be sure to check out her poster # B049 today from 6-9pm!
Be sure to check out her poster # B049 today from 6-9pm!
For those attending the Cancer Cachexia Society @cancercachexia.bsky.social meeting in person who just saw my talk, I know there was no chance for questions for the virtual talks today...but I am happy to connect on here, in the meeting's Whova app, or via email.
Please reach out!
#FOMO
Please reach out!
#FOMO
Excited for my talk tomorrow at the 8th Cancer Cachexia Conference meeting, where I will present our work showing that tumor derived PTHrP is a new driver of pancreatic cancer cachexia.
Check out our preprint for the full story:
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@cancercachexia.bsky.social
Check out our preprint for the full story:
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@cancercachexia.bsky.social
September 25, 2025 at 11:11 AM
For those attending the Cancer Cachexia Society @cancercachexia.bsky.social meeting in person who just saw my talk, I know there was no chance for questions for the virtual talks today...but I am happy to connect on here, in the meeting's Whova app, or via email.
Please reach out!
#FOMO
Please reach out!
#FOMO
Excited for my talk tomorrow at the 8th Cancer Cachexia Conference meeting, where I will present our work showing that tumor derived PTHrP is a new driver of pancreatic cancer cachexia.
Check out our preprint for the full story:
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@cancercachexia.bsky.social
Check out our preprint for the full story:
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@cancercachexia.bsky.social
September 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Excited for my talk tomorrow at the 8th Cancer Cachexia Conference meeting, where I will present our work showing that tumor derived PTHrP is a new driver of pancreatic cancer cachexia.
Check out our preprint for the full story:
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@cancercachexia.bsky.social
Check out our preprint for the full story:
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@cancercachexia.bsky.social
A fantastic write-up about grad student @jessicapeura.bsky.social's recent NIH F31 award and how she uses her life experiences to motivate her work looking at pancreatic cancer metastasis! Pieces like this remind me how lucky I am to be PI, where we get to train the next gen of passionate scientists
PhD candidate Jessica Peura is studying pancreatic cancer in the lab of Jason Pitarresi, PhD, to prevent families like her own from experiencing cancer-related loss. Discover how her research aims to stop cancer from spreading: direc.to/nqgr
@jessicapeura.bsky.social @pitarresilab.bsky.social
@jessicapeura.bsky.social @pitarresilab.bsky.social
PhD candidate Jessica Peura studies pancreatic cancer; honors mother through grant-funded research
PhD candidate Jessica Peura has earned a prestigious NIH grant to advance her research on pancreatic cancer. After the death of her mother, she’s determined to help prevent families from experiencing ...
direc.to
September 22, 2025 at 3:27 PM
A fantastic write-up about grad student @jessicapeura.bsky.social's recent NIH F31 award and how she uses her life experiences to motivate her work looking at pancreatic cancer metastasis! Pieces like this remind me how lucky I am to be PI, where we get to train the next gen of passionate scientists
Congrats to postdoc @nikitab.bsky.social for winning the Margaret Foti @theaacr.bsky.social Scholar-in-Training Award for next month's Pancreatic AACR conference!
If you see her at the conference, be sure to ask her about her work on PDAC cachexia, bioRxiv link below!
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
If you see her at the conference, be sure to ask her about her work on PDAC cachexia, bioRxiv link below!
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 15, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Congrats to postdoc @nikitab.bsky.social for winning the Margaret Foti @theaacr.bsky.social Scholar-in-Training Award for next month's Pancreatic AACR conference!
If you see her at the conference, be sure to ask her about her work on PDAC cachexia, bioRxiv link below!
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
If you see her at the conference, be sure to ask her about her work on PDAC cachexia, bioRxiv link below!
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Congrats to @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social in the lab for being awarded a competitive slot on the Innate Immunity T32 @umasschan.bsky.social!
In addition to being an amazing scientist, Calvin is also an elite Cat 2 cyclist. He is the one in black, attacking the breakaway group below!
In addition to being an amazing scientist, Calvin is also an elite Cat 2 cyclist. He is the one in black, attacking the breakaway group below!
August 5, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Congrats to @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social in the lab for being awarded a competitive slot on the Innate Immunity T32 @umasschan.bsky.social!
In addition to being an amazing scientist, Calvin is also an elite Cat 2 cyclist. He is the one in black, attacking the breakaway group below!
In addition to being an amazing scientist, Calvin is also an elite Cat 2 cyclist. He is the one in black, attacking the breakaway group below!
Reposted by PitarresiLab
🧵1/ New in @Cancer_Cell: Our lab discovered that Th17 cells must team up with B cells to eliminate tumors, and prevent it from coming back.
🔗 Read: www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...
🧬This unexpected immune duo sparks tumor immunity.
🖼️Image: See schematic Th17/B cell antitumor action!
🔗 Read: www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...
🧬This unexpected immune duo sparks tumor immunity.
🖼️Image: See schematic Th17/B cell antitumor action!
Adoptively transferred Th17 cells cooperate with host B cells to achieve durable tumor immunity
Cole et al. report that adoptively transferred, tumor-specific Th17 cells engage host
B cells and drive B cell proliferation and differentiation. These Th17 cells require
B cells for sustained immunit...
www.cell.com
July 25, 2025 at 2:51 PM
🧵1/ New in @Cancer_Cell: Our lab discovered that Th17 cells must team up with B cells to eliminate tumors, and prevent it from coming back.
🔗 Read: www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...
🧬This unexpected immune duo sparks tumor immunity.
🖼️Image: See schematic Th17/B cell antitumor action!
🔗 Read: www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...
🧬This unexpected immune duo sparks tumor immunity.
🖼️Image: See schematic Th17/B cell antitumor action!
Fantastic work as always Cosimo!! Congrats to you and the team, especially first author @yijuan.bsky.social!
Excited to share work published in @cp-cancercell.bsky.social by @yijuan.bsky.social showing that macropinocytosis inhibition drives myCAF-to-iCAF conversion, enhancing therapeutic responses in pancreatic cancer. Thank you to our collaborators that contributed! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Macropinocytosis maintains CAF subtype identity under metabolic stress in pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumors are glutamine deficient, and both tumor cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) rely on this ami…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 24, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Fantastic work as always Cosimo!! Congrats to you and the team, especially first author @yijuan.bsky.social!
Congrats to @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social in the lab for winning a travel award for the AAI Advanced Course! He's leading the tumor immunology efforts in the lab and I'm excited to see what he learns at the workshop!
🙏 Grateful to the AAI for supporting trainees during these tough financial times!
🙏 Grateful to the AAI for supporting trainees during these tough financial times!
a man in a suit and tie is clapping his hands in a room .
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is clapping his hands in a room .
media.tenor.com
July 11, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Congrats to @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social in the lab for winning a travel award for the AAI Advanced Course! He's leading the tumor immunology efforts in the lab and I'm excited to see what he learns at the workshop!
🙏 Grateful to the AAI for supporting trainees during these tough financial times!
🙏 Grateful to the AAI for supporting trainees during these tough financial times!
NOA!!
🚨 Congrats to @jessicapeura.bsky.social in the lab for getting her NCI F31 notice of award today!! 🚨
With the NIH slowdowns, this has been quite the journey, but I'm happy to see some NOAs coming through for the trainees!
@umasschan.bsky.social
🚨 Congrats to @jessicapeura.bsky.social in the lab for getting her NCI F31 notice of award today!! 🚨
With the NIH slowdowns, this has been quite the journey, but I'm happy to see some NOAs coming through for the trainees!
@umasschan.bsky.social
a man and a woman are standing next to each other in a room and congratulating each other with congrats .
ALT: a man and a woman are standing next to each other in a room and congratulating each other with congrats .
media.tenor.com
July 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
NOA!!
🚨 Congrats to @jessicapeura.bsky.social in the lab for getting her NCI F31 notice of award today!! 🚨
With the NIH slowdowns, this has been quite the journey, but I'm happy to see some NOAs coming through for the trainees!
@umasschan.bsky.social
🚨 Congrats to @jessicapeura.bsky.social in the lab for getting her NCI F31 notice of award today!! 🚨
With the NIH slowdowns, this has been quite the journey, but I'm happy to see some NOAs coming through for the trainees!
@umasschan.bsky.social
Officially welcoming our 2 new PhD students to the lab today!
Head over to our lab website to check out some fun facts about Paula (co-mentored with the Spinelli lab) and Ethan @ethanhcchang.bsky.social. Excited to have you both on board and watch the team grow...
www.pitarresilab.com/team
Head over to our lab website to check out some fun facts about Paula (co-mentored with the Spinelli lab) and Ethan @ethanhcchang.bsky.social. Excited to have you both on board and watch the team grow...
www.pitarresilab.com/team
June 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Officially welcoming our 2 new PhD students to the lab today!
Head over to our lab website to check out some fun facts about Paula (co-mentored with the Spinelli lab) and Ethan @ethanhcchang.bsky.social. Excited to have you both on board and watch the team grow...
www.pitarresilab.com/team
Head over to our lab website to check out some fun facts about Paula (co-mentored with the Spinelli lab) and Ethan @ethanhcchang.bsky.social. Excited to have you both on board and watch the team grow...
www.pitarresilab.com/team
Reposted by PitarresiLab
1/Meet the MRS ECLC Chairs! Dr. Thomas Cox @trcox.matrixandmetastasis.com is a Professor at the @garvaninstitute.bsky.social focussing on the Extracellular Matrix and Fibrosis in Cancer.
We interviewed Dr. Cox about his role as a founding member of the MRS Early Career Leadership Council 🧵👇
We interviewed Dr. Cox about his role as a founding member of the MRS Early Career Leadership Council 🧵👇
June 17, 2025 at 7:38 AM
1/Meet the MRS ECLC Chairs! Dr. Thomas Cox @trcox.matrixandmetastasis.com is a Professor at the @garvaninstitute.bsky.social focussing on the Extracellular Matrix and Fibrosis in Cancer.
We interviewed Dr. Cox about his role as a founding member of the MRS Early Career Leadership Council 🧵👇
We interviewed Dr. Cox about his role as a founding member of the MRS Early Career Leadership Council 🧵👇
Reposted by PitarresiLab
Pancreatic cancer cachexia is mediated by PTHrP-driven disruption of adipose de novo lipogenesis
🧪 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Pancreatic cancer cachexia is mediated by PTHrP-driven disruption of adipose de novo lipogenesis
Pancreatic cancer patients have the highest rates and most severe forms of cancer cachexia, yet cachexia etiologies remain largely elusive, leading to a lack of effective intervening therapies. PTHrP ...
doi.org
June 9, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Pancreatic cancer cachexia is mediated by PTHrP-driven disruption of adipose de novo lipogenesis
🧪 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
I'm excited to share the lab’s new paper on PDAC-associated cachexia on bioRxiv today, led by star postdoc @nikitab.bsky.social
“Pancreatic cancer cachexia is mediated by PTHrP-driven disruption of adipose de novo lipogenesis”
A 🧵 below, if you are interested...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
“Pancreatic cancer cachexia is mediated by PTHrP-driven disruption of adipose de novo lipogenesis”
A 🧵 below, if you are interested...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 7, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I'm excited to share the lab’s new paper on PDAC-associated cachexia on bioRxiv today, led by star postdoc @nikitab.bsky.social
“Pancreatic cancer cachexia is mediated by PTHrP-driven disruption of adipose de novo lipogenesis”
A 🧵 below, if you are interested...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
“Pancreatic cancer cachexia is mediated by PTHrP-driven disruption of adipose de novo lipogenesis”
A 🧵 below, if you are interested...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I'm not sure I will ever experience this again as a PI, but THREE trainees in the lab gave invited talks today at the UMass Chan GI Research Day. Congrats to @nikitab.bsky.social @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social @jessicapeura.bsky.social! Cahexia-Metastasis-Immunosuppression....we do it all!
May 23, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I'm not sure I will ever experience this again as a PI, but THREE trainees in the lab gave invited talks today at the UMass Chan GI Research Day. Congrats to @nikitab.bsky.social @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social @jessicapeura.bsky.social! Cahexia-Metastasis-Immunosuppression....we do it all!
Reposted by PitarresiLab
The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity:
1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.
It’s time more people understood this.
1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.
It’s time more people understood this.
May 17, 2025 at 1:36 PM
The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity:
1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.
It’s time more people understood this.
1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.
It’s time more people understood this.
My trainee just sent me this notification from the NIH about a pending F31 application.
We knew it was likely to come, but it still hurt to read the words.
We knew it was likely to come, but it still hurt to read the words.
May 6, 2025 at 5:09 PM
My trainee just sent me this notification from the NIH about a pending F31 application.
We knew it was likely to come, but it still hurt to read the words.
We knew it was likely to come, but it still hurt to read the words.
Congrats to first author @skyeweisse.bsky.social and co-authors @jessicapeura.bsky.social @nikitab.bsky.social @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social on our recent collaborative effort with the Foskett lab on the role of mitochondrial calcium and MCU in pancreatic cancer metastasis @cellreports.bsky.social
“Mitochondrial Ca2+ controls pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis by regulating epithelial cell plasticity,” is now available at Cell Reports. MCU-KO blocks EMT & reduces metastasis in PDAC, reversed by Snail. @pitarresilab.bsky.social #sciencesky
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Mitochondrial Ca2+ controls pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis by regulating epithelial cell plasticity
Weissenrieder et al. show that mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU) deletion reduces
growth and metastasis of murine KPCY cells by reducing cell-autologous induction of
epithelial-to-mesenchymal transit...
www.cell.com
April 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Congrats to first author @skyeweisse.bsky.social and co-authors @jessicapeura.bsky.social @nikitab.bsky.social @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social on our recent collaborative effort with the Foskett lab on the role of mitochondrial calcium and MCU in pancreatic cancer metastasis @cellreports.bsky.social
Reposted by PitarresiLab
“Mitochondrial Ca2+ controls pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis by regulating epithelial cell plasticity,” is now available at Cell Reports. MCU-KO blocks EMT & reduces metastasis in PDAC, reversed by Snail. @pitarresilab.bsky.social #sciencesky
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Mitochondrial Ca2+ controls pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis by regulating epithelial cell plasticity
Weissenrieder et al. show that mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU) deletion reduces
growth and metastasis of murine KPCY cells by reducing cell-autologous induction of
epithelial-to-mesenchymal transit...
www.cell.com
April 28, 2025 at 1:06 PM
“Mitochondrial Ca2+ controls pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis by regulating epithelial cell plasticity,” is now available at Cell Reports. MCU-KO blocks EMT & reduces metastasis in PDAC, reversed by Snail. @pitarresilab.bsky.social #sciencesky
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by PitarresiLab
Article Mitochondrial Ca 2+ controls pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis by regulating ... - goo.gl/alerts/LVVbLH #GoogleAlerts
Mitochondrial Ca2+ controls pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis by regulating epithelial cell plasticity
Endoplasmic reticulum to mitochondria Ca2+ transfer is important for cancer cell survival, but the role of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake through the mitoc…
goo.gl
April 25, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Article Mitochondrial Ca 2+ controls pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis by regulating ... - goo.gl/alerts/LVVbLH #GoogleAlerts
Congrats to @anirbanmaitra.bsky.social @linghua-wang.bsky.social and the rest of the team on this absolute tour de force to map plasticity in PDAC, in @nature.com today.
So much exciting data to explore here!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
So much exciting data to explore here!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Spatial mapping of transcriptomic plasticity in metastatic pancreatic cancer - Nature
Spatially resolved transcriptomic profiling of primary tumours and metastases from patients with pancreatic cancer provides insight into the evolutionary progression to metastasis, and the variation i...
www.nature.com
April 23, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Congrats to @anirbanmaitra.bsky.social @linghua-wang.bsky.social and the rest of the team on this absolute tour de force to map plasticity in PDAC, in @nature.com today.
So much exciting data to explore here!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
So much exciting data to explore here!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congrats to grad student @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social for being chosen for an oral presentation at the Immunology Microbiology Program (IMP) retreat!
April 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Congrats to grad student @calvinjohnsonio.bsky.social for being chosen for an oral presentation at the Immunology Microbiology Program (IMP) retreat!
Reposted by PitarresiLab
Gov. Maura Healey came to UMass Chan Medical School on Tuesday to learn about the implications of cuts and delays to the Medical School’s NIH funding.
“Institutions like UMass Chan are under threat."
Watch the video to see what else Gov. Healey had to say: direc.to/nbsV
#NIHfunding
“Institutions like UMass Chan are under threat."
Watch the video to see what else Gov. Healey had to say: direc.to/nbsV
#NIHfunding
Amid NIH funding cuts and uncertainty, Gov. Healey says future of science, research in Massachusetts is at stake
The visit included a tour of the new Paul J. DiMare Center and a closed-door meeting with UMass Chan faculty members.
direc.to
April 16, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Gov. Maura Healey came to UMass Chan Medical School on Tuesday to learn about the implications of cuts and delays to the Medical School’s NIH funding.
“Institutions like UMass Chan are under threat."
Watch the video to see what else Gov. Healey had to say: direc.to/nbsV
#NIHfunding
“Institutions like UMass Chan are under threat."
Watch the video to see what else Gov. Healey had to say: direc.to/nbsV
#NIHfunding