Ansu Perekatt (aperekat)

Ansu Perekatt

Assistant Professor

Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Research

Cancers often relapse: why? My lab is interested in understanding how tumor-initiating cells persist in intestinal cancers. The research focus is on the molecular mechanisms underlying cell-fate plasticity, which allows colon tumor cells to switch their fate to colon cancer stem cells that are responsible for the colon tumor growth. To investigate the mechanism that allows cell fate plasticity, and thus the persistence of colon cancer stem cells, we are using a mutant mouse model that display cell fate-plasticity and tumor initiation. Our research is expected to inform novel therapeutic strategies targeting tumor relapse.

We use a combination of vivo mouse models and ex vivo intestinal organoid cultures to answer our research questions using various molecular biology techniques.

Institutional Service

  • Shared Research Facilty Member
  • Faculty Gropup Advisory to the Registrar Member
  • Faculty Advisory Council Member
  • Faculty Advisory Council Member
  • Sudent Affairs - Stevens Family Day Member
  • Graduate Education Committee Member
  • Diversity Equity and Inclusion Member
  • Tenure Track Search Committee Chair
  • Core instrument facility committee Member
  • committee on animal facility expansion Chair

Professional Service

  • Cancer Research of AACR Reviewer

Honors and Awards

Gallow Award for Outstanding Cancer Research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research (NJCCR) in years 2014, 2016, and 2018

Professional Societies

  • AACR – American Association for Cancer Research Member
  • CINJ – Cancer Institute of New Jersey Member
  • NYAS – New York Academy of Sciences Senior member
  • AACR – American Association for Cancer Research Member
  • CINJ – Cancer Institute of New Jersey Member
  • NYAS – New York Academy of Sciences Member

Grants, Contracts and Funds

K22 Career Transition Award from NCI/NIH: $486,000
(September 2018 to Spetember 2022)

Selected Publications

Li, C.; Shah, J.; Wrath, K.; Mills, C.; Perekatt, A. (2021). 3D Culturing of Organoids from the Intestinal Villi Epithelium Undergoing Dedifferentiation. Journal of Visual Experiments (JoVE) . 2021 Apr 1;(170). doi: 10.3791/61809. (2021 Apr 1;(170) ed.).
https://www.jove.com/embed/player?id=61809&t=1&s=1&fpv=1

Chen, L.; Toke, N. H.; Luo, S.; Vasoya, R. P.; Fullem, R. L.; Parthasarathy, A.; Perekatt, A.; Verzi, M. P. (2019). A reinforcing HNF4-SMAD4 feed-forward module stabilizes enterocyte identity..Nature genetics (5 ed., vol. 51, pp. 777-785).

Perekatt, A.; Shah, P. P.; Cheung, S.; Jariwala, N.; Wu, A.; Gandhi, V.; Kumar, N.; Feng, Q.; Patel, N.; Chen, L.; Joshi, S.; Zhou, A.; Taketo, M. M.; Xing, J.; White, E.; Gao, N.; Gatza, M. L.; Verzi, M. P. (2018). SMAD4 Suppresses WNT-Driven Dedifferentiation and Oncogenesis in the Differentiated Gut Epithelium.. Cancer research (17 ed., vol. 78, pp. 4878-4890).

Courses

Biology and Biotechnology
Immunology
Pathophysiology