Cellular & Molecular Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis

Defining the molecular mechanisms that drive cell proliferation, differentiation and survival 

Carcinogenesis is the multistep process by which cancer arises from normal cells and tissues. The overall goal of research in this area is to understand the basic mechanisms of carcinogenesis at the cellular and molecular levels, leading to new targets and strategies for cancer prevention and treatment. Areas being investigated by Department of Epigenetics and  Molecular Carcinogenesis faculty include:

• Genetic susceptibility to cancers
• Genetic, epigenetic and gene expression alterations accompanying cancer initiation and progression
• Cell signaling pathways involved in cancer induction and progression
• Environmental factors involved in the etiology of cancer
• The basis of cancer cell heterogeneity

Implementing cutting-edge CRISPR/Cas9 technology

Research in this area relies on the development of genetically engineered animal models for investigating the stepwise molecular changes that occur during carcinogenesis, the function of key genes and gene variants in cancer development, and preclinical prevention and therapeutic studies. A number of existing models are being used for these mechanistic studies, including models for skin, mammary gland, thymus and blood cancers. Not only are we using novel mouse models using state-of-the-art transgenic and knockout/knock-in technologies (CRISPR/Cas9) to study specific genes and pathways involved in cancer induction and progression, we are also developing and optimizing CRISPR-based genetic and epigenetic screens and computer algorithms to better integrate data coming from these screens with other large-scale "-omic" data sets.