Ece Eksi, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at CEDAR. Dr. Eksi's research is focused on investigating the impact of the prostate tumor microenvironment on cancer progression and metastasis to improve patient stratification in the clinic. Her projects integrate biological, computational, and clinical approaches to enhance our understanding of the intercellular interactions in the prostate tumor microenvironment with the overarching goal of providing novel early detection and treatment options for patients. Dr. Eksi's team develops and applies quantitative spatial approaches to map the dynamic cell-cell interactions in the prostate tumor microenvironment using longitudinal patient samples, providing a temporal map of tumor evolution.

One specific focus in Dr. Eksi's team is on cancer-neuron communication. Cancer is a systemic disease that involves continuous communication with the nervous system. Her group investigates the intricate mechanisms underlying the bidirectional communication between tumor-innervating neurons and prostate cancer cells, which drive metastasis. Leveraging spatial image analysis, co-culture models, live cell imaging, and structural biology, Dr. Eksi's research aims to identify novel therapeutic targets to inhibit cancer-neuron crosstalk and metastasis.