University of California-San Francisco · Biomedical EngineeringViswanath Metabolism Lab
Pavithra Viswanath · San Francisco, California
Research Focus
Dr. Pavithra Viswanath's lab at UCSF focuses on understanding the metabolism of brain tumors, particularly diffuse midline gliomas in children and adult gliomas with IDH mutations. The lab studies how certain metabolic processes, like glycolysis and citrate metabolism, impact tumor growth and immune response. By identifying vulnerabilities in tumor metabolism, the lab aims to develop new therapies and imaging techniques to improve survival and quality of life for patients with these aggressive cancers.
gliomasmetabolismbrain cancerimmunotherapycitrate metabolismglyoxalaseradiation therapydeuterium imagingtumor microenvironment
Research Aims
4AIM 01Investigate how PGK1 inhibition affects tumor metabolism in diffuse midline gliomas.
AIM 02Explore the role of GLO1 in reactive metabolite generation in IDH mutant gliomas.
AIM 03Evaluate the effectiveness of combining BBG with radiation therapy for glioma treatment.
AIM 04Determine how to use deuterium metabolic imaging to assess treatment response in brain tumors.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemouse modelsmetabolic imagingPCRWestern blotin vivo drug testingflow cytometrybiochemical assaysgenetic manipulation
Output against the department
Publications143bottom 30% of dept.414th of 595
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations1.5kbottom 9% of dept.539th of 595
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.