Finding Genius Podcast

Finding Genius Podcast


Cancer Questions – Raghu Kalluri, MD, PhD, Department of Cancer Biology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center – Cellular Changes, Exosomes, and the Future of Drug Delivery Systems

February 14, 2020

Raghu Kalluri, MD, PhD, professor, chairman, Department of Cancer Biology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, provides an overview on exosomes cancer, cancer stages, and his continuing research of extracellular vesicles.  Podcast Points of Discussion: What are extracellular vesicles? What do we know about extracellular vesicles and their ability to change neighboring cells? Do exosomes affect cancers? Dr. Kalluri holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Kansas Medical Center. He holds an MD degree from Brown University Medical School. And Dr. Kalluri was a Postdoc Fellow and Research Associate at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.  Dr. Kalluri is keenly interested in the study of immunology and mechanisms associated with tissue injury and repair using advanced organ fibrosis. In this podcast, Dr. Kalluri discusses his work as a professor and researcher, detailing his study of exosomes as it relates to cancer specifically. He discusses the important question: why do cells generate extracellular vesicles (EVs)? He stresses the critical nature of this question and area of study noting that these EVs seem to have the ability to alter cells around them, which could be a factor in cancer progression.  Dr. Kalluri talks about the differences in exosomes in regard to not only disease but pregnancy as well. Continuing, the researcher outlines the topic of accelerated growth and he discusses the many experiments that are taking place currently with exosomes, highlighting issues regarding metastasis, translational research, and the incredible potential to use exosomes for drug delivery systems.