Rana Falahat, PhD

Dr. Falahat’s research focuses on tumor–immune interactions and mechanisms of response and resistance to cancer immunotherapy, including tumor-intrinsic immune evasion mechanisms, tertiary lymphoid structure biology, and bioengineering approaches to enhance anti-tumor immunity.

Associations

• Immunology
• Immuno-Oncology Program
• Immuno-Oncology Program

Our research investigates how tumor-intrinsic signaling pathways regulate anti-tumor immunity and response to cancer immunotherapy. We are particularly interested in understanding how tumor cells evade immune destruction and shape the tumor microenvironment. Our work integrates tumor immunology, cancer biology, and bioengineering to develop therapeutic strategies for melanoma and other solid tumors. Current research interests include STING and innate immune signaling, tertiary lymphoid structure development, and biomaterial-based approaches to enhance T cell- and B cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity.

• Nowak JA, Cho E, Davis MA, Zheng S, Bell L, Sha F, Magdalenski JS, Lui A, Napoli M, Falahat R, Mulé JJ, Flores ER, Farha OK, Teplensky MH. Strengthening Antisense Oligonucleotide-Mediated Anti-Tumor Immunity via Metal-Organic Framework Nanoparticles. Nano Lett. 2026 Mar.26(8):2861-2868. Pubmedid: 41712689.
• Karapetyan L, Xu J, Ward K, Kalos D, Schachner B, Ali J, Song X, Kuriakose J, Hall MS, Chau J, Cox CA, Al-Bzour AN, Falahat R, Perez MC, Mullinax JE, Zager JS, Gonzalez R, Sondak VK, Tsai KY, Messina JL, Moran-Segura C, Lopez-Blanco N, Alleyne AE, Nguyen JV, Schell MJ, Markowitz J, Brohl AS, Eroglu Z, Tarhini AA, Khushalani NI, Hwu P, Mulé JJ, Sarnaik AA, Beatty MS, Pilon-Thomas S. Immunologic determinants of infusion products and the tumor microenvironment govern response to TIL therapy in advanced melanoma. Med (N Y). 2026 Aug.7(8):101231. Pubmedid: 42526429. Pmcid: PMC13425943.
• Falahat R, Mulé JJ. Chemokine/cytokine-releasing biomaterials induce in situ tertiary lymphoid-like structures and enhance antitumor immunity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Nov.122(45):e2409560122. Pubmedid: 41183186. Pmcid: PMC12625823.
• Takahashi H, Perez-Villarroel P, Falahat R, Mulé JJ. Targeting MARCO in combination with anti-CTLA-4 leads to enhanced melanoma regression and immune cell infiltration via macrophage reprogramming. J Immunother Cancer. 2025 Mar.13(3). Pubmedid: 40081947. Pmcid: PMC11907082.
• Berglund A, Yamoah K, Eschrich SA, Falahat R, Mulé JJ, Kim S, Matta J, Dutil J, Ruiz-Deya G, Ortiz Sanchez C, Wang L, Park H, Banerjee HN, Lotan T, Barry KH, Putney RM, Kim SJ, Gwede C, Kresovich JK, Kim Y, Lin HY, Dhillon J, Chakrabarti R, Park JY. Epigenome-wide association study of prostate cancer in African American men identified differentially methylated genes. Cancer Med. 2024 Aug.13(16):e70044. Pubmedid: 39162297. Pmcid: PMC11334050.
• Falahat R, Berglund A, Perez-Villarroel P, Putney RM, Hamaidi I, Kim S, Pilon-Thomas S, Barber GN, Mulé JJ. Epigenetic state determines the in vivo efficacy of STING agonist therapy. Nat Commun. 2023 Mar.14(1):1573. Pubmedid: 36949064. Pmcid: PMC10033671.
• Falahat R, Berglund A, Putney RM, Perez-Villarroel P, Aoyama S, Pilon-Thomas S, Barber GN, Mulé JJ. Epigenetic reprogramming of tumor cell-intrinsic STING function sculpts antigenicity and T cell recognition of melanoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Apr.118(15). Pubmedid: 33827917. Pmcid: PMC8053941.
• Falahat R, Perez-Villarroel P, Mailloux AW, Zhu G, Pilon-Thomas S, Barber GN, Mulé JJ. STING Signaling in Melanoma Cells Shapes Antigenicity and Can Promote Antitumor T-cell Activity. Cancer Immunol Res. 2019 Nov.7(11):1837-1848. Pubmedid: 31462408. Pmcid: PMC6825582.
• Zhu G, Nemoto S, Mailloux AW, Perez-Villarroel P, Nakagawa R, Falahat R, Berglund AE, Mulé JJ. Induction of Tertiary Lymphoid Structures With Antitumor Function by a Lymph Node-Derived Stromal Cell Line. Front Immunol. 2018 Jul.9:1609. Pubmedid: 30061886. Pmcid: PMC6054958.
• Zhu G, Falahat R, Wang K, Mailloux A, Artzi N, Mulé JJ. Tumor-Associated Tertiary Lymphoid Structures: Gene-Expression Profiling and Their Bioengineering. Front Immunol. 2017 Jun.8:767. Pubmedid: 28713385. Pmcid: PMC5491937.

• Title: Engineering tertiary lymphoid-like structures with antitumor function via chemokine/cytokine-releasing biopolymer scaffolds
  Award Number: 09336612608
  Sponsor: Miles for Moffitt Fund
  Falahat, R. (PD/PI)
• Title: Tumor cell-intrinsic STING signaling role in spontaneous and therapeutic induction of tertiary lymphoid structures
  Award Number: 1K22CA296487-01A1
  Sponsor: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
  Falahat, R. (PD/PI)
• Title: Melanoma cell-intrinsic STING signaling role in the induction of tertiary lymphoid structures
  Award Number:
  Sponsor: Florida Department of Health
  Falahat, R. (PD/PI)