Research Focus

Our laboratory has a long-standing interest in understanding how aberrant activation of surface receptors (e.g. tyrosine kinases and GPCRs) and their downstream signaling pathways contribute to malignant transformation and the metastatic dissemination of cancer cells. Major focus is on lipid regulated kinases - such as protein kinase C (PKC) - and small GTPases of the Rho/Rac/Cdc42 family, and their involvement in cancer initiation, progression and metastasis. The roles of these signaling pathways in cancer cell motility, invasion, cell-cell interactions, and the control of the tumor microenvironment (TME) represent major areas of interest. By using state-of-the-art molecular and cellular approaches as well as genetically engineered mouse models of cancer, we aim to dissect these intricate cancer signaling events and unearth novel targets for the therapeutics of cancer and other diseases.