Trainers Directory

I focus on the molecular mechanisms governing cell migration and proliferation, and experimental therapy of cancer metastasis using tumor-targeting peptides.

Bingcheng Wang's Biography

We interrogate crosstalks between cancer cells and the microenvironment in metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancers. For example, the surrounding liver mcrienvironment secretes soluble factors to activate HER3 and other survival pathways in cancer liver metastases. By identifying key survival pathways (such as HER3) ivolved in the crosstalk, we aim to develop therapeutic strategies of disrupting the crosstalk (e.g. block secreted factors, or block HER3 in cancer cells) to inhibit metastatic tumor outgrowth and, and also sensitize cancer cells to standard-of-care treatments for combination therapies.

Rui Wang's Biography

I investigate the distribution of genetic variation and the role that this variation plays in phenotypic differences among populations, including the role of host pathogen co-evolution in infectious disease risk.

Scott Williams's Biography 

I research the neural basis of adaptive behavior, odor-guided navigation and flight in insects.

Mark Willis's Biography

Our lab focuses on understanding how beta-arrestins, proteins known to regulate various GPCRs signaling (~40% of FDA-approved drugs target GPCRs), contribute to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD). 

JungA "Alexa" Woo's Biography

Our lab is at the forefront of genomics in urological conditions, leveraging large datasets from both phenotypic information gleaned from electronic medical records (EMR) and genomic data from comprehensive sequencing techniques. We offer the unique experience of working in both dry and wet lab environments, with data access to resources like the UK Biobank, All-of-Us, TriNetX, University Hospitals EMR, and our in-house experiments. Our current active projects span areas such as kidney stones, male infertility, and transgender studies, providing a rich and diverse research environment to advance your academic career.

Wilfred Wu's Biography 

My research focuses on structural and function of gasdermin family members in pyroptosis and inflammatory cytokine secretion, Molecular mechanisms of inflammasome activation during viral infection such as SARS-CoV-2, and Activation and substrate recognition by inflammatory caspases in health and disease. 

Tasn Sam Xiao's Biography 

We are interested in using high-resolution microscopy and high-throughput genomics to understand genome regulation in human development and diseases.

Liangqi Xie's Biography 

I study molecular mechanisms underlying neural development, neuro-degeneration, and bone homeostasis.

Wen-Cheng Xiong's Biography 

We are interested in developing innovative artificial intelligence, natural language processing, data mining, machine learning, pattern recognition, graph theory, systems biology, knowledge representation and engineering, ontology and other computational algorithms to automatically understand genetic causes of diseases, identify candidate drugs/compounds to treat diseases, elucidate how environmental factors contribute to diseases, and conduct health outcomes research.

Rong Xu's Biography