Natasha Pavlova

Natasha Pavlova is an Assistant Professor of Oncological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah, where she investigates cancer metabolism, nutrient sensing, and tumor microenvironment dynamics. Her work focuses on how glutamine deficiency impacts tumor growth, tRNA charging, and polyglutamine tract regulation of cell fate.

• Education: B.S., University of Virginia; Ph.D., Harvard Medical School

Her research explores:

• Glutamine depletion in tumors and its role in protein synthesis
• Polyglutamine tracts as amino acid availability sensors
• Metabolic adaptations enabling cancer progression under nutrient stress
• Development of in vivo polyglutamine-based reporters for amino acid deficits
• Single-cell tRNA charging analysis methods

Her publications (2016–2025) span cancer metabolism, tRNA biology, and metabolic stress responses, with recent work addressing tumor-immune interactions and therapeutic strategies targeting nutrient availability.

She is affiliated with the University of Utah's Molecular Biology Program and collaborates across cancer biology and metabolic disease research domains. Her lab develops innovative tools to profile amino acid availability in tumor ecosystems.