Research Summary
Over the past decade, my laboratory, in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Lani Wu, has pioneered multiple approaches for quantifying and interpreting cancer heterogeneity in normal and diseased tissues. Traditionally, this phenotypic heterogeneity, whether arising from microenvironment, epigenetic or genetic sources, has been viewed as an impediment to understanding and treating cancer. We were therefore very surprised by our ability to identify biological and clinical information hidden within patterns of heterogeneity Our cancer research program is focused on: 1) accelerating the path of early cancer drug discovery; 2) identifying clinically important information from cellular and tissue heterogeneity; and 3) understanding heterogeneity arising from drug resistance.
Research Funding
April 1, 2020 - March 31, 2025 - Scalable Image-Based Approach for Profiling and Annotating Very Large Compound Libraries”, co-PI. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: 2R01 CA184984-06A1
September 1, 2019 - August 31, 2024 - A drug discovery paradigm for fast-tracking adaptations to high altitude, co-PI. Sponsor: DARPA, Sponsor Award ID: Panacea
September 1, 2017 - June 30, 2021 - Reverse-engineering mechanisms of neural circuit wiring in the fly visual system, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NEI, Sponsor Award ID: R01EY028205
February 1, 2015 - January 31, 2019 - Systems-level role of GSK3 in colonic epithelium homeostasis and drug resistance, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NIGMS, Sponsor Award ID: R01GM112690
Education
University of Pennsylvania, BA, 1985, Mathematics
University of California, San Diego, MA, 1986, Mathematics
University of California, San Diego, PhD, 1990, Mathematics (Advisor: Richard Hamilton)