Primary Appointment

• Cell differentiation and patterning
• Cell transformation
• Tumor progression and tumor microenvironment
• Cancers of female reproductive organs

The research mission of my laboratory is to understand how aberrations of processes that normally control embryonic development contribute to tumorigenesis and tumor behavior. Cancer is increasingly thought to be an aberrant form of organogenesis or development "gone wrong". My laboratory primarily focuses on the role of homeobox genes in cancer. These genes encode transcription factors that normally control developmental patterning, but many are aberrantly expressed in tumors. We are particularly interested in cancers of the female reproductive organs, because these tissues exhibit dynamic developmental plasticity and represent ideal organ systems to study how tumorigenesis is intimately related to embryonic development. By investigating the molecular underpinnings of this relationship, our goal is to identify focal points for therapeutic intervention and more effective markers of early-stage disease.

Our key research questions include:

i) how do homeobox genes control evolution of different types of tumors from the same cell-of-origin?

ii) what sets of homeobox genes regulate tumor progression, and what are their mechanisms?

iii) how do homeobox genes cross-talk with other signaling pathways in tumors?

The studies in my laboratory are multi-disciplinary and integrate cancer biology with developmental biology. The projects include both molecular studies of gene regulation, and studies of tumor growth, histopathology, and interactions with the microenvironment using in vitro  and animal models.

Academic Appointments

Institutional Committee Activities

Last updated: 2/28/2013