The primary focus of Dr. Vayalil's research is to investigate changes in cellular metabolism or mitochondrial bioenergetics during different stages of development and its implications in the process of breast and prostate carcinogenesis. Major emphasis is on how cellular metabolic or bioenergetic changes during development alter the risk or increase the susceptibility to cancer and within tumor allows cancer cells to adapt to ever-changing micro-environment as tumor grows, invade and metastasize. A variety of tools are used including transgenic and knockout mouse models of breast and prostate carcinogenesis, cutting edge technology in bioenergetic analysis and metabolomics. The long-term goal is to develop novel therapeutic approaches to modulate cellular metabolism for the prevention and treatment of cancer; utilize characteristic metabolic or bioenergetic changes within the tumor to identify the aggressive nature of cancer from indolent tumor.
