Research Interest
1. Mechanisms of Resistance to targeted therapy in human melanoma.
Acquired and/or adaptive resistance to small molecule inhibitor drugs represents a major hurdle for improvement of clinical benefits in targeted cancer therapy. Using human melanoma as a cancer model, we are interested in the mechanisms of the development of acquired or adaptive resistance to RAF or MEK inhibitors.

2. The function and regulatory mechanism of protein posttranslational modification.
Protein posttranslational modification plays important roles in the regulation of protein functions and in cancer development. Using a combinational approach of protein chemical synthesis, mass spectrometry, crystallography etc, we aim to identify novel posttranslational modifications of several cancer-related proteins such as SOX10, CIC and β-Catenin, investigate their biological implications in cancer development as well as their regulation modes.

3. DC-based cellular immunotherapy platform
Cellular immunotherapy is an innovative treatment approach that harness the patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen presenting cells in human body and can be potentially used as tumor-antigen presenter to activate autologous T cells that eliminate cancer cells. We attempt to establish immortalized DC cell lines as a platform for rapid and convenient activation of autologous cytotoxic T lymphocytes to treat infectious diseases and cancer.