Mechanisms of DNA Damage Recognition & Repair (Environmental Toxicants & Cancer)
My long-term goal is to mechanistically understand the intersection of repair proteins involved in DNA lesion recognition and homologous recombination. My research program is specifically focused on uncovering the underlying mechanisms of how DNA damage caused by environmental toxicants at replication forks is recognized by the human Shu complex and repaired by either RAD51-dependent or RAD52-dependent damage repair mechanisms.
My lab combines cell biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and single-molecule tweezers (C-trap) approaches to uncover novel insights into the mechanisms of DNA repair in aging, disease, and cancer.
Biochemistry - Cell Biology-Biophysics
Basic Science
Our team works with many human recombinant proteins and proteins we isolate from the nucleus of cancer cells to understand function.
Biophysics
Seeing is believing. We have the unique ability to look at how protein molecules function on DNA using the Lumicks C-trap.
Cancer Biology
Using cancer cell lines we can examine how cancer variants modulate known functions. We also examine how genes function in response to environmental toxicants and cancer therapeutics.
