Rotation projects are designed to expose students to the biology of adult stem cells, the mechanisms of tumorigenesis and to provide them with an appreciation for translational cancer research. These projects are focused on the major themes of the lab, which are:

1. Understanding the relative effects of oncogenic mutations on stem cells compared to the non-stem cell population from adult human skin. A key component of this project is to evaluate the Beta-catenin/Lef-1 signaling pathway on cultured epithelial stem cells and non-stem cells.

2. Studying the function of differently expressed genes in mediating stem cell behavior. The goal of this project is to understand the molecular mechanisms which control the critical properties of stem cell self-renewal, proliferation, adhesion and migration.

3. Identifying, isolating and characterizing “cancer stem cells” from human and mouse model tumors. Cancers are thought to possess a sub-population of slowly-cycling cancer stem cells which are responsible for tumor growth, recurrence and metastasis. The goal of this project is to begin to characterize these cells to help better target them therapeutically.

The goal for all of these projects is to use the data obtained to help understand human tumorigenesis at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels, and be able to devise better treatments.