Alissa Weaver
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University
Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair
Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University
Director, Vanderbilt Center for Extracellular Vesicle Research
Executive Advisory Committee:
Robert J. Coffey, M.D.
James G. Patton, Ph.D.
Heather Pua, M.D., Ph.D.
Cynthia Reinhart-King, Ph.D.
The Weaver laboratory focuses on the role of membrane trafficking and cytoskeletal rearrangements in promoting tumor invasion and metastasis. In the past 10 years, the laboratory has focused on how secretion of exosomes promotes cancer cell invasion and motility and tumor aggressiveness. The laboratory is also studying fundamental questions in the extracellular vesicle (EV) field, including how RNA and protein cargoes are sorted into EVs, how secretion of exosomes is controlled, and the impact of EVs on functions of recipient cells across a variety of biological contexts.