Research Interest

Several directions of the research are currentlyinvestigated in the lab.

1. Identify genetic alterations in the DNA repair network that occur at early stage of carcinogenesis

We aim to investigate the novel functions of human nucleases/helicases such as DNA2 in promoting tumorigenesis by both in vitro and in vivo studies, which may lead to identification of a new class of markers for early detection and intervention. We will also focus our studies on novel chromatin remodeling factors in the DNA repair network to understand how environmental and endogenous factors reshape the landscape of cellular genome by targeting epigenetic regulatory machineries

1. Discover novel agents targeting the DNA repair network by genetic and chemical approaches for personalized cancer prevention

We aim to systematically identify chemical compounds, particularly natural products that target the DNA repair network and to test the hypothesis whether reduction of cellular tolerance to replication stress by modulating DNA repair process would lead a synthetic lethality interaction in premalignant cells with hyperactive DNA replication. This study will help us identify novel targeted preventive strategy based on the genetic alterations in the premalignant cells, leading to our ultimate goal of personalized cancer prevention.

1. Use systems biology approachesto understand and target the DNA repair network for cancer prevention

We aim to use mathematical methods from graph theory to dissect the complexity of the DNA repair network. The goal of our research is to study the function of the DNA repair process as a network during cancer evolution.