Nidhi Bhasin (India) is a future PhD candidate in the EU-funded MENTOR programme at the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Naples. She will be working in the lab of Andrea Ballabio, investigating novel regulators of RAG GTPase–mediated non-canonical mTORC1 signalling, a pathway increasingly associated with lysosomal function, autophagy, and disease pathogenesis.
She graduated as the highest-ranked student in her MSc cohort at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where her thesis examined the lysosomal degradation of tight junction membrane proteins during enteropathogenic infections. This early interest in intracellular trafficking evolved through her work as a Junior Research Fellow at ICMR-National Institute of Pathology, contributing to proteomics-based cancer biomarker discovery, and later at the National Institute of Immunology, where she studied chromatin organization in T-cell development.
Nidhi has also co-authored a chapter on Proteomics and Metabolomics in Cancer Biomarker Discovery for Methods in Cell Biology (Academic Press, 2025). Her research journey reflects a sustained interest in molecular mechanisms underlying disease, with a broader goal of advancing translational research through biomedical R&D.
During her Master’s, she served as a Students’ Representative at JNU, advocating for academic inclusivity and student welfare. Influenced by her family’s background in anthropology and her interest in philosophy, she remains committed to equity in science and is particularly passionate about representing women in STEM.
Planned secondments: 3 months at UPCité (INEM) – Paris, France for TFEB involvement in TSC animal models. 3 months at Mimetas (Leiden, the Netherlands) to establish FLCN mutant kidney on chip
Non-Canonical mTORC1 (NC-mTORC1) signaling controls the function of MiT-TFE transcription factors through substrate recruitment, mediated by RagC/D and Folliculin (FLCN), independently of the TSC-Rheb axis. Our discovery represents a paradigm shift in the field. However, we still lack knowledge of components, regulators and mechanisms by which this pathway contributes to mTORopathies such as Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome and TSC. The doctoral candidate will perform interactome analysis of FLCN, FNIP1 and RagC by IPs or bimolecular complementation affinity purification (BiCAP) and LC-MS/MS at FTELE MS Facility. Candidate interactors will be validated by co-IP and a validated multiparametric high-content assay at TIGEM High Content Screening Facility (HCSF), to test TFEB nuclear localization and canonical mTORC1 activity (pS6). Hits inducing TFEB nuclear translocation without affecting pS6 (i.e. NC-mTORC1) will be characterized based on the biochemical structure and function, and regarding their tumorigenic potential (proliferation, clonogenic assays, tumor sphere formation) in cell and animal models of mTORopathies.
Expected Results: We want to provide new insights into the functioning of NC-mTORC1 machinery and reveal targets for therapeutic intervention.
Planned secondments: 3 months at UPCité (INEM) – Paris, France for TFEB involvement in TSC animal models. 3 months at Mimetas (Leiden, the Netherlands) to establish FLCN mutant kidney on chip
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Funded by the European Union under the grant agreement No 101168624. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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