Research
Research
We study how genetic alterations drive cancer and rare genetic disease, moving from genomic observations to experimentally validated biology. Our work is organized around three connected themes.
Theme 01
Functional Genomics of Cancer
Which genes truly matter for cancer, and what happens when they work together?
We use cutting-edge CRISPR/Cas9 technologies, multiplexed genetic approaches, and in vivo cancer models to uncover genes that control tumor initiation, growth, and progression. Rather than studying genes one at a time, we are particularly interested in understanding how genetic alterations interact and how their effects change within the complex environment of a living tumor.
By combining functional screens with molecular and genomic analyses, we aim to reveal unexpected vulnerabilities and biological relationships that could ultimately point toward new therapeutic strategies.
Theme 02
Lung Cancer: From Early Events to Tumor Evolution
Cancer does not begin when a tumor becomes visible. The biological journey starts much earlier.
Our lab investigates the earliest molecular and cellular events that push normal lung cells toward malignancy. We study how oncogenic mutations, loss of tumor suppressors, environmental carcinogens, and changes in the immune microenvironment cooperate during this process.
By modeling these early stages experimentally and following how they evolve over time, we hope to identify the changes that distinguish a cell that remains normal from one that eventually becomes cancer, opening opportunities for earlier detection, prevention, and intervention.
Theme 03
Translational Genomics: From Bedside to Bench
Sometimes our most important research questions begin with a patient, not a petri dish.
We integrate patient samples, clinical information, pathology, and genomic data to identify genetic alterations and molecular patterns associated with human disease. We then bring these observations back to the laboratory, where we use genome editing, cellular and molecular assays, and disease models to determine what these alterations actually do and why they matter.
This bedside-to-bench approach allows us to move beyond association toward biological mechanism, connecting discoveries made in patients with experimentally validated insights that may ultimately inform precision medicine, cancer care, and the understanding of rare genetic diseases.