My lab is interested in the signaling pathways involved in the development of colon cancer. Unlike diseases that are caused by mutation of a particular gene, cancer is a disease that can involve many different genes. In the process of becoming cancerous, a normal cell acquires a mutation that makes it more prone to further mutations. Once it acquires several mutations, the cell becomes more cancerous and can eventually form a local tumor in the same tissue or a metastatic tumor that travels to other organs in the body.

Our research focuses on identifying cancer genes that interact with environmental risk factors, such as fats in the diet, to cause cancer.