Laboratory Research

Shiuan Chen, Ph.D. – Hormones and Cancer; Chemoprevention
Dr. Chen, working with Dujin Zhou, Ph.D., has studied the role of aromatase in breast cancer development for more than 20 years. Currently, their research explores the regulatory mechanism of aromatase expression in breast cancer cells and seeks to understand the structure-function relationship of the aromatase protein in order to develop chemoprevention strategies using phytochemicals with anti-aromatase activity. Recognizing aromatase inhibitors (AIs) as important drugs to treat hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer, the team is performing experiments to determine the mechanisms of AI response and resistance in breast tumors. 

Behnam Badie, M.D. – Neuro-oncology
Dr. Badie’s research centers on understanding microglia and macrophage function in gliomas and other metastatic brain tumors.
 
Susan Kane, Ph.D. – Drug Resistance
Dr. Kane’s laboratory studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of drug resistance to learn more about the mechanism of action of anticancer drugs, why treatments fail and which patients will best respond to specific therapies. Current projects include a cell-based model that explores the molecular basis of resistance to the breast cancer drug trastuzumab and an animal model that uses bioluminescence imaging technology to study expression and regulation of a drug resistance gene in vivo, non-invasively and in real time. Dr. Kane collaborates with David Sadava, Ph.D., an adjunct professor in the division, to study the use of natural products and alternative medicines as anticancer agents. Dr. Sadava studies the effectiveness, mechanisms of action and mechanisms of resistance to agents derived from green tea, Chinese herbs and a variety of other plants.

Emily Wang, Ph.D. – Growth Factors and Cancer
Dr. Wang’s group focuses on the role of signaling by growth factor receptors and oncogenes in cancer progression as well as the development of molecular therapeutics based on mechanistic study. The lab has a strong emphasis on the cross talk among different oncogenic signaling pathways, such as the ErbB and TGF-β receptor networks, and the dynamic interactions between oncogenic signaling and the tumor microenvironment at different stages of the disease. They are exploring several directions to decipher the cooperating functions of oncogenes, including deregulation of mRNA and microRNA gene expression and transformation of tumor-surrounding stromal cells.