Srinivas Malladi

Srinivas Malladi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern). He obtained his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin and conducted postdoctoral research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as an American Cancer Society Fellow under Dr. Joan Massagué. His lab focuses on understanding metastatic latency and the molecular mechanisms enabling disseminated cancer cells to survive and form overt metastases. Key areas of research include metastatic dormancy, immune evasion, and the interplay between tumor cells and their microenvironment.

Dr. Malladi’s work integrates genetic, molecular, biochemical, and imaging approaches to study how latent disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) interact with their microenvironment to escape immune surveillance and initiate metastasis. His lab develops preclinical models to identify therapeutic targets for eradicating latent DTCs before metastatic relapse. Publications highlight contributions to understanding chemoresistance, WNT signaling in metastatic latency, and metabolic reprogramming in brain metastasis.

Research interests span breast cancer metastasis, renal cell carcinoma progression, and the role of metabolic plasticity in tumor cell survival. Collaborations include investigations into immune response modulation in immunocompromised patients and novel therapeutic strategies targeting metastatic drivers such as AXL/WRNIP1 and DRP1. The lab actively engages in translational research to bridge basic science discoveries with clinical applications.

Key findings include the identification of autocrine WNT inhibition as a mechanism for metastatic latency and the role of mitochondrial dynamics in brain metastasis. Ongoing efforts aim to characterize metabolic dependencies of metastatic cells and develop biomarkers for detecting latent DTCs.