The overall goal of my research is to determine the genetic and epigenetic events that drive epithelial cancer progression and metastasis. Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality in the United States. The genes required for cancer progression and dissemination remain an area of active investigation. The main research focus of my lab is to understand how non-coding RNA regulate these processes and, specifically, the functional role of microRNA (miRNA). miRNAs are small, non-coding RNA molecules that associate with protein complexes within the cell to regulate gene expression. The dysregulation of miRNA has been reported in nearly every human malignancy, yet the functional role for these molecules is unclear. My study of miRNA began during my doctoral training where I examined the role of miRNA in breast cancer metastasis with Dr. Danny Welch, an international leader in Breast Cancer research. With Dr. Welch, I demonstrated that miRNAs were regulated by genes which determine the metastatic potential of breast carcinoma. As a postdoctoral fellow I continued to study the role of miRNA in epithelial cancers and identified a specific miRNA that drove lung cancer progression. These were the first data to show an miRNA sufficient to drive an epithelial cancer and highlighted the functional importance of miRNA in cancer progression. I also identified several miRNA as novel prognostic markers for human cancer.
My lab utilizes a functional genomics approach towards understanding and identifying novel non-coding RNA genes as drivers of lung cancer and evaluating the downstream mechanism of action for these genes in human malignancy. Having conducted my pre- and postdoctoral training in clinical departments at top research medical centers, my research is focused on making discoveries that will translate to improving patient outcomes. I have significant experience in evaluating patient lung tissue for non-coding RNA and correlating these levels to patient outcomes. I also have great expertise in manipulating miRNA in human lung cell lines to study their biological function and in utilizing multiple animal models in order to study lung cancer. I started my tenure-track faculty position in the Genetics Departments on June 1, 2016, and have been given a competitive startup package, lab space and tissue culture facility. I have a recruited 2 highly talented graduate students, a research technician, and promising undergraduate students and have put together a team of mentors to ensure my maturation as faculty. I am dedicated to the training of students, especially in todies difficult publishing and funding climate. Given these never before experienced challenges, I take my role as mentor very seriously and have a hands-on approach for training. This includes weekly individual meetings with all my trainees, a weekly lab meeting where everyone in the lab presents their data for the week, active participation of my trainees in the Genetics Works in Progress seminar series (which I run), the supervised writing of manuscripts and grants, and hands on training in the laboratory as I still have a bench in the lab.
We currently have projects and funding for students interested in:
Elucidating the role of novel ncRNA in human lung cancer
Identifying novel modulators of breast cancer metastasis
Understanding the role of ncRNA in health disparities
Developing novel therapeutic approaches for targeting established cancer metastases
Developing novel models of human malignancy
