My research is recently focused upon understanding how the ubiquitin pathway regulates intracellular signal transduction pathways that transfer key information from the extracellular to the intracellular environment, resulting in coordinated cellular responses. More specifically, I am interested in the ubiquitin pathway’s role of apoptosis in 1) autoimmune diseases and 2) cancer immunosuppresssion. In cancer immunosuppression, my research focuses on the elucidation of the cellular and molecular basis for the role of tumor exosomes and exosomal tumor antigens in the development of T- cell dependent breast cancer and the mechanism underlying tumor immunosuppression mediated by tumor excreted exosomes. In autoimmune diseases, TNF-alpha plays a critical role in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Constant activation of TNF-alpha signaling results in chronic inflammation and erosive arthritis, as confirmed in the human TNF-alpha transgenic mice model. Our research focuses on how Jab1 regulates TNF-alpha anti- and pro- apoptosis pathways in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts.