Education
Ph.D., Physiology, University of Minnesota, Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, 2018
Thesis: The Role of Tunneling Nanotubes in Mediating Intercellular Communication in Cancer
Advisor: Emil Lou, M.D., Ph.D.
B.S., Biology, Kutztown University of Pennsyvania, 2011
Awards & Recognition
- Scholarly Excellence in Equity and Diversity (SEED) Award, 2017
- Community of Scholars Program Research Travel Grant, 2015
- The Lifson/Johnson Memorial Teaching Award, 2014
- Council of Graduate Students Teaching Award, 2014
- People's Choice Award, 3 Minute Thesis Competition, 2014
Publications
- Intercellular Transfer of Oncogenic KRAS via Tunneling Nanotubes Introduces Intracellular Mutational Heterogeneity in Colon Cancer Cells., Desir S, Wong P, Turbyville T, Chen, Shetty M, Clark C, Zhai E, Romin Y, Manova-Todorova K, Starr TK, Nissley DV, Steer CJ, Subramanian S, Lou E., Cancers (Basel). 2019 Jun
- Cellular and Molecular Networking Within the Ecosystem of Cancer Cell Communication via Tunneling Nanotubes., Lou E, Zhai E, Sarkari A, Desir S, Wong P, Iizuka Y, Yang J, Subramanian S, McCarthy J, Bazzaro M, Steer CJ., Front Cell Dev Biol. 2018 Oct
- Chemotherapy-Induced Tunneling Nanotubes Mediate Intercellular Drug Efflux in Pancreatic Cancer., Desir S, O'Hare P, Vogel RI, Sperduto W, Sarkari A, Dickson EL, Wong P, Nelson AC, Fong Y, Steer CJ, Subramanian S, Lou E., Sci Rep. 2018 Jun
- Imaging Tunneling Membrane Tubes Elucidates Cell Communication in Tumors., Lou E, Gholami S, Romin Y, Thayanithy V, Fujisawa S, Desir S, Steer CJ, Subramanian S, Fong Y, Manova-Todorova K, Moore MAS., Trends Cancer. 2017 Oct
- Tunneling nanotube formation is stimulated by hypoxia in ovarian cancer cells. Desir S, Dickson EL, Vogel RI, Thayanithy V, Wong P, Teoh D, Geller MA, Steer CJ, Subramanian S, Lou E., Oncotarget. 2016 Jul