Research Summary
I am a physician-scientist in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and an attending physician in the Genitourinary Medical Oncology Clinic at UCSF. Our lab is interested in multiple areas of cancer biology and translational oncology. Our current research projects include developing novel CAR T and radioimmunotherapies for prostate and bladder cancers (including identifying new therapeutic targets using transcriptomic and proteomic approaches), and understanding resistance mechanisms to antibody-drug conjugates and other surface-protein targeting modalities. In addition, we are interested in the role of CDK12 in regulating transcription and replication, and identifying new therapeutic approaches to treat this aggressive subtype of disease. I completed my postdoctoral research fellowship with Drs. Felix Feng and Alan Ashworth and my clinical training with Drs. Eric Small, Terence Friedlander and Chuck Ryan. I completed my PhD dissertation in the Biomedical Sciences program at UCSF with the late Dr. Zena Werb, and studied transcriptional regulation of metastasis and the tumor microenvironment.
Research Funding
September 15, 2022 - September 15, 2027 - Defining the roles of PPARgamma and TGFbeta in regulating NECTIN4 and resistance to NECTIN4-targeting therapies , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: K08CA273514
January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2024 - Discovering Precision Oncology Approaches for CDK12-Deficient Prostate Cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Prostate Cancer Foundation, Sponsor Award ID: 20YOUN06
July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2024 - Understanding the Role of CDK12 and Identifying Immunotherapy and Synthetic Lethal Targeting Strategies , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Department of Defense, Sponsor Award ID: W81XWH2010136
July 18, 2025 - July 18, 2025 - The Role of Precision Therapy in the Treatment of CDK12 Altered Metastatic Prostate Cancer , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: Prostate Cancer Foundation, Sponsor Award ID: PCF 2020 Bristol-Myers Squibb-PCF