Meenal Datta
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Jane Schoelch DeFlorio Collegiate Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
- Atypical tumor microenvironment
- Disease progression
- Health science in space
- Microgravity environments
Video
Datta’s 91视频
Datta in the News
Science Friday
Audio
May 14, 2026
An upcoming resupply mission will carry tumor samples to the International Space Station for research. Experiments in microgravity have yielded shocking results: Some tumors triple in size in just 10 days—the kind of growth that could take 10 years on Earth. What does that mean for science, and for astronauts? Joining Ira to discuss this new frontier in cancer research are hematologist Catriona Jamieson and aerospace engineer Meenal Datta.
ABC57
Video
May 12, 2026
Professor Meenal Datta works in aerospace and mechanical engineering and has been conducting experiments on brain cancer organoids in space, alongside NASA. Glioblastoma is currently viewed as an unsolvable problem, but Datta and her team are hoping to flip the script on that.
The Stem Cell Podcast
Audio
May 12, 2026
Dr. Meenal Datta is an Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame and leader of the Tumor Immune Microenvironment Mechanics (TIME) Lab. She discusses how mechanical forces within tumors shape cancer progression and immune responses, with a focus on glioblastoma.
Inside Indiana Business
March 20, 2026
“We have a problem with access to algebra in our country,” said Nicole McNeil, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Educational Research and Action at Notre Dame. “We need to make sure that even before preschool, we are putting children in positions to succeed when they get to algebra in eighth grade.”
“Remembering that what we do is for people was a very important reminder,” said Meenal Datta,
Jane Schoelch DeFlorio Collegiate Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. “That was the most valuable response I received.”
Inside Precision Medicine
July 09, 2025
“During brain tumor removal surgery, neurosurgeons take a slice of the tumor, put it on a slide and send it to a pathologist in real-time to confirm what type of tumor it is. Tumors that originally arise in the brain, like glioblastoma, are prescribed different treatments than tumors that metastasize to the brain from other organs like lung or breast, so these differences inform post-surgical care,” said co-first author Meenal Datta, PhD, an assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at Notre Dame.
Bioengineer, Science Magazine
July 03, 2025
The novel approach introduced by Meenal Datta, an assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at Notre Dame, enhances this workflow by adding a brief yet powerful step: measuring the solid mechanical stress during surgery helps classify tumors mechanically, independent of histological analysis.
WNDU
Video
April 01, 2024
Meenal Datta has been working at Notre Dame for two and a half years. Earlier this year, her team was invited to use their research on glioblastoma in the ISS.
South Bend Tribune
March 22, 2024
A SpaceX launch Thursday afternoon aims to advance brain cancer scholarship by University of Notre Dame researchers by bringing an experimental study to the International Space Station. When it lifts off Thursday afternoon around 4:55 p.m. from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft will carry the materials and methods for Notre Dame professor Meenal Datta's study on glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer.
WNDU
March 22, 2024
Thursday afternoon, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft Falcon 9 carried materials and methods by University of Notre Dame professor Meenal Datta. She’s a professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. This new experimental study is expected to bring new insight because of the space station’s microgravity environment.
Futurity
December 13, 2023
“A decade ago, we didn’t even know perivascular fibroblasts existed within the brain, and not just in the lining of the skull,” says Meenal Datta, assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at Notre Dame and senior author of the study published in the journal NPJ Genomic Medicine.