My research objective is to translate basic science discoveries into treatments and cures for cancer. My work primarily focuses on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR)s as a primary target in cancer. GPCRs are the largest family of receptors encoded by the genome, tightly control cell signaling, and regulate physiology in a diversity of tissues. As such, they are historically among the best targets for small molecule therapy in the clinic. The leucine-rich G protein-coupled receptor-5 (Lgr5) is particularly interesting since it is expressed in stem and cancer stem cells in a myriad of tissues. However, the function of Lgr5 is still largely unknown. Currently, my work utilizes cutting-edge multidisciplinary approaches to tackle this important challenge. This includes genetic engineering of fluorescently labelled mice, high-content confocal microscopy and cell behavior modeling, organoid culturing and genome editing, and fluorescent based approaches for high-throughput screening of receptor trafficking.
