Our research will combine discovery-based and hypothesis-driven approaches, with an ultimate goal of using insights gained to develop new biomarkers for early detection of metastatic cells, and identify new therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat metastatic disease. The overarching goal of our research program will be to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate metastasis.

Although there has been continuous improvement in the survival and other outcomes of patients with cancer over time, cancer patients still have high mortality rates. Moreover, thus far scientists have striven to develop a novel therapy based on the characteristics of numerous cancers. For instance, recent research revealed elevated immune system activity through immune checkpoint-related therapy as a novel targeted therapeutic to cure cancers. Furthermore, recent studies have indicated distinct features and heterogeneity of tumors through high throughput sequencing and mass spectrometry analysis. Therefore, it is critical to identify novel targets for cancer therapeutics and develop personalized medicine that can be used in the treatment of cancer patients. Moreover, aiming at the treatment of molecular and cellular variability under different individual cancer patients is a new direction for cancer research.