My research interest is to study novel mechanisms of carcinogenesis, angiogenesis and cancer resistance to chemo- and radio-therapy.

My lab studies new molecular mechanisms of epigenetic regulation and signaling pathways in tumorigenesis and therapeutic resistance. We study how epigenetic regulation such as DNA and RNA methylation, histone H3 acetylation affects tumor development and treatment resistance, and roles and mechanisms of reactive oxygen species (ROS), miRNAs, and classical pathways such as PI3K/AKT/p70S6K1, RAS/RAF/MAPK and other novel signaling pathways in inducing tumorigenesis, angiogenesis and treatment resistance.

Environmental Health Sciences is an important aspect in cancer research. We are focusing on the study of metal including arsenic-, cadmium-, and chromium-induced malignant transformation and carcinogenesis. We have taken an integrative approach in which we have combined molecular biology, cell biology, animal study and human cohort to study the underlying molecular mechanisms. 

The lab is interested in both basic and translational studies to investigate:

1. Roles and mechanisms of signaling pathways in arsenic- , cadmium- and chromium-induced carcinogenesis;
2. Novel mechanisms of therapeutic resistance in ovarian cancer; 
3. Mechanisms of acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs and radiation treatment in NSCLC cells and the strategy to increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to treatment;
4. Roles and mechanisms of tumor microenvironment in breast cancer development and treatment resistance.