Venkatesh Pursues Connections Between Neural Circuitry and Tumor Growth
Humsa Venkatesh
Humsa Venkatesh, PhD, of the Department of Neurology, has devoted her career to cancer neuroscience research. Her lab focuses on mechanisms that contribute to cancer growth, specifically interactions between the central nervous system and glioma. Glioma is a type of tumor that grows in the brain. In the United States, there are six cases of gliomas diagnosed per 100,00 people every year. High-grade gliomas are the leading cause of brain tumor death in both children and adults.
“Historically, a lot of cancer research has focused on genetic and epigenetic abnormalities,” she said. “That’s led to a number of effective targeted therapies, but there is still something missing in the equation.”
Heading the cancer neuroscience research program, Venkatesh hopes to reveal that missing piece.
“There are a number of different cell types that can contribute to cancer growth, including vascular cells and immune cells, but we study the til date underrecognized role of nerves in disease progression,” Venkatesh said.
Venkatesh was the first to suggest that neuronal activity can contribute to tumor growth, leading to novel strategies to broadly treat cancer by disabling their ability to electrically integrate into neural circuitry.
Pioneering Researcher with a Personal Connection
Venkatesh took an interest in medicine after she lost her uncle to renal cell carcinoma, a common kidney cancer, when she was a teenager.
“I knew I wanted to go into medicine and for me at the time, I thought that meant being a doctor.”
After completing her undergraduate degree at the University of California Berkeley and studying under Jennifer Doudna, PhD, Venkatesh found her passion in a lab, specifically in translational research. She received her PhD in cancer biology and joined the faculty at Stanford. She was then recruited to the Brigham in 2021 and started her lab about two and a half years ago to focus on cancer neuroscience.
“In my training I focused primarily on brain cancers, high-grade gliomas, but I was able to put together a team of experts who can apply our research to a variety of different tumor types,” Venkatesh said.
The young scientist has already made a name for herself. She was recognized by the MIT Technology Review as a Pioneer Under 35 in 2018 and named a Top 10 Innovator to Watch Under 40 by Genetic Engineering News in 2019. In 2022, she was granted the Sontag Foundation Distinguished Scientist Award. In 2023, she was named a Searle Scholar, won a Damon-Runyon Rachleff Innovation Award and a NIH New Innovator Award. In 2024, she became the first Brigham investigator to receive a translational Women Scientists Innovation Award for Cancer Research from the V Foundation for her project, “Normalizing Dysregulated Neural Circuit Activity for Adult Glioma Treatment.”
Venkatesh said while awards and grants are critical to making her work possible, having a strong team and mentors is equally important to her success.
“Tracy Batchelor is perhaps single-handedly the reason I’m here at the Brigham and I think it’s because he believes so much in the cancer neuroscience field,” she said.
Tracy Batchelor, MD, chair of the Department of Neurology, identified cancer neuroscience as a priority area for growth in the department and led the effort to recruit Dr. Venkatesh to the Brigham.
“Dr. Venkatesh is an international leader in the emerging discipline of cancer neuroscience, a bold and innovative thinker, who is pushing the boundaries of this field,” said Batchelor.
‘Holistic Disorganization’
The work being done in the Venkatesh Lab has the potential to make a difference across cancer types as researchers take a holistic approach to cancer, as opposed to focusing on a single symptom or mass growing on a given organ.
“There seems to be a role for neurons and nerves in almost every cancer type: pancreatic, gastric, skin cancers, prostate, and breast,” she said.
Venkatesh said that though there are some early clinical trials focusing on this new area, there is still a need to understand the cancer-specific, tissue-specific and neuron-specific mechanisms that are at play in each tumor type.
She said the ultimate cocktail for cancer treatment could be a combination of targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and neuromodulatory drugs focused on new targets being discovered in her lab.
“These neural circuits are extensively connected throughout the whole body, from the brain to the periphery” Venkatesh said. “Our lab is therefore trying to look at cancer from a systems perspective.”
She said those connected neural circuits and bodily systems are a part of a “holistic disorganization” that contribute to tumor growth.
‘The Tip of the Iceberg’
Venkatesh is now turning her attention to building out the Cancer Neuroscience Program. Venkatesh will help drive the program with Batchelor and Michael Greenberg, PhD, from the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School.
The program was funded by a five-year T32 training grant from the National Cancer Institute in 2023.
“There’s still so much to learn about the interactions within the tumor microenvironment, especially between the nervous system and malignant cells,” Venkatesh said. “We’ve really uncovered just the tip of the iceberg understanding the neuroscience of these cancers.”
Venkatesh hopes the next several years of cancer research may emphasize the bridging of distinct disciplines, such as her research at the intersection between cancer and neuroscience.
“I have a lot of hope that the field as a whole is blossoming,” she said.