In our laboratory, we study non-coding RNAs, such as miRNAs in basic and translational research. We hope to discover how miRNAs are expressed, what they regulate, how they function, how extensive their reach is, what roles they play in cancer and aging, and then harnessing this new mechanism to combat diseases of old age, such as cancer and AD. Our research extends to the discovery of novel small RNAs in development, cancer, aging and diabetes as well as identifying novel SNPs in the non-coding portions of the genome with an eye to identifying the next generation of actionable targets in cancer. We proved that microRNAs act as key oncogenes and developed strategies to target these oncomiRs for cancer therapy. We also recently performed the first comprehensive resequencing of the non-coding genome in cancer. Check out the project links at left for a more detailed description!
