The research in our group is focused on the development and application of mechanism based approaches to identify novel therapeutics for use in the treatment and prevention of hormonally responsive cancers. Specifically we are interested in the pharmaceutical exploitation of the estrogen and androgen receptors as therapeutic targets in breast and prostate cancers and in defining how these receptors influence the pathogenesis of these diseases. These efforts have led to the discovery of several drugs that are currently being evaluated in the clinic as cancer therapeutics, and to the identification of potential biomarkers and predictors of response that can help to target the use of these new drugs. Most recently we have explored approaches to treat triple negative breast cancer and have identified an important pathway that links obesity/dyslipidemia and cancer risk.
Education and Training
- Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine, 1988
Grants
- Cell and Molecular Biology Training Program
- Targeting convergent oncogenic signaling during AR inhibition to overcome metastasis and immune evasion in prostate cancer
- Duke Women's Reproductive Health Research Scholars
- Pharmacological Sciences Training Grant
- Uncovering novel gene regulatory mechanisms underlying glucocorticoid response phenotypes through targeted mutagenesis of an essential transcription factor
- Institutional Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
- A DUAL ROLE OF INTEGRIN ALPHA-3 IN BREAST CANCER CNS METASTASIS & CHEMORESISTANCE (F31)
- Duke University Program in Environmental Health
- Understanding metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer and the impact the tumor microenvironment has on cancer progression
- Targeting the GRHL2/AGR2/LYPD3 axis in breast cancer
- The role of CaMKK2 in tumor-infiltrating natural killer cells
- Functional and Mechanistic Dissection of GPCR Endosomal Signaling Dynamics
- CaMKK2 inhibition as an approach to increase tumor immunity in breast cancers
- HOXB13 as a therapeutic target in prostate cancer
- Inhibition of CaMKK2 sensitizes rectal cancers to radiation therapy
- Regulatory principles of the Warburg Effect
- Defining the Rules of Breast Cancer Cell Traffic Through Bone
- Identification of Novel Targets in Treatment Resistant Prostate Cancer
- Role of ER RNA Binding Domain in Breast Cancer
- Translational Research in Surgical Oncology
- Targeting tumor-specific apoptosis regulation in advanced ER+ breast cancer
- Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health
- Medical Scientist Training Program
- Cancer cell intrinsic and extrinsic actions of steroid hormones in breast tumors