Donate to the Bhaduri Lab

Aparna Bhaduri, PhD is an assistant professor in the department of Biological Chemistry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She did her PhD in Cancer Biology at Stanford University and her postdoctoral training at UCSF. Her contributions to studying human brain development and brain cancer have been recognized by numerous high-profile awards and is supported by numerous highly competitive sources.

Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive form of adult brain cancer, with no effective treatments. While human brain development might seem unrelated, we have learned that certain powerful stem cells that uniquely make our human brain develop for the first time, and disappear by birth, re-emerge decades later in a much more vicious context in brain cancer. One of the reasons there are no sustaining treatments for glioblastoma is because these stem cells are only in humans and not in the similar models commonly used to study cancer, making it hard to find relevant treatments. 

Recently organoids, stem cell derived models cultured in  petri dishes, have enabled us to really study these special human brain stem cells. By studying how these cells work both in brain development and the formation of cancer, we are starting to identify new ways to treat patients. 

We are at the most exciting and impactful frontier of finally being able to understand the human brain in health and disease. As one of the leading scientists in her field, Dr. Bhaduri’s current research portfolio has received highly competitive funding from NIH, as well as private organizations.  Bhaduri is committed to pursuing her research momentum at full speed, and timely philanthropic investment is critical to ensure that the lab’s most promising projects advance without interruption. 

An immediate infusion of funds is needed to sustain and expand the breadth of the lab’s work, and to accelerate projects that are nearing groundbreaking discoveries. Philanthropic donations of up to $700,000 are being sought to propel Bhaduri’s progress and impact and ultimately benefit patients and families across the country and beyond.