
A major interest of our laboratory is the cellular and molecular mechanisms of acute lung injury. We are focusing on the ischemia-reperfusion induced lung injury in lung transplantation, and acute lung injury induced by other pathogenic factors. We are developing a nanoparticle-based drug delivery system to prevent and treat lung injury.
Another major research interest is lung repair and regeneration. We are exploring the role of the PI3K/Akt pathway in lung tissue injury and repair using transgenic mice with deficiency of an adaptor protein, XB130, cloned in my lab.
The third major research interest is the role of XB130 in tumorigenesis. We have demonstrated that XB130 can couple RET/PTC oncogenic kinase to the PI3K pathway in thyroid cancer and also found its role in cancer cells, both in vitro and in vivo.