Lung diseases are responsible for a large number of deaths around the world each year. My primary goals are to use high-throughput genomic technologies such as DNA and RNA sequencing to better understand the molecular underpinnings of lung diseases including lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This work involves developing and/or applying novel computational methods to find significantly altered genes in disease states and to build integrative networks across different data types.
Currently, I am studying a large number of lung adenocarcinoma and squamous carcinomas profiled by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) with the goal of finding novel genes that drive tumorigenesis. Likewise, I am examining premalignant lesions in the airways of high-risk smokers to better understand the genetic alterations that contribute to the progression of squamous cell carcinoma. In the setting of COPD, I am working with data from the Lung Genome Research Consortium (LGRC) to find microRNA isomiRs that regulated disease-associated gene expression changes. I also seek to use gene expression profiles to understand the molecular mechanisms of disease progression and to predict novel COPD therapeutics. My overall hope is that by elucidating the molecular causes of lung cancer and COPD, we can develop novel therapeutic strategies that will aide in the clinical management of these diseases.