Email this pageCurrent Projects
1. Craniofacial Morphogenesis. The primary objective is to investigate fundamental mechanisms underlying craniofacial morphogenesis, including development of cranial neural crest, cell fate determination and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, skeletogenesis and craniosynostosis.
2. Breast Development and Tumorigenesis. The main focus is to investigate cellular signaling in normal development and neoplastic transformation of the mammary gland. We are particularly interested in roles of mammary stem cells and parity-induced memmary progenitors in these processes.
3. Stem Cell Biology. This project studies the genetic control of cellular signals and signal transduction mechanisms underlying development of lineage-specific stem cells/progenitors in skeletal, reproductive and nerve systems.
4. Ubiquitin-like Modifiers. A multi-disciplinary approach has been initiated to study SUMO modification in mammalian development and disease. Studies incude SUMO mediated cell cycle regulation in embryonic and extraembryonic development, cancer and neurological disorder.
5. Wnt Production and Signaling. This project deciphers the regulatory mechanism underlying the making of Wnt and its signaling effects in health and disease. The main focus is to investigate the regulation of the Wnt pathway by Gpr177/mouse Wntless.
Funding Support: National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Breast Cancer Research Program, Department of Defense.
