It is well recognized that the cellular context contributes to susceptibility to oncogenic transformation mediated by different “driver” oncogenes. The focus of our laboratory is to discover and understand the critical genetic and epigenetic factors that determine the cellular-context-dependent oncogenesis in distinct cancer types, with a primary focus on sarcoma and melanoma. We use multimodality approaches, including transcriptome analyses, epigenome mapping, and gene-expression-based high-throughput screens, as well as murine models to understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis and to develop biomarkers and targeted therapies based on insight into disease pathogenesis.
