Overview of Current Research Interests

Research in the Chemical and Cancer Biology Branch of IBS-CGI focuses on DNA repair pathways and their relationship to carcinogenesis and anti-tumor therapy. Our research combines biochemical, molecular, cellular structural and biology with organic chemistry and genetics. We study a variety of DNA repair pathways, including nucleotide excision repair (NER) and interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair as well as responses to replication stress and double-strand break (DSB) formation. Our studies aim to elucidate the mechanisms by these pathways prevent tumorigenesis and the inherited genetic disorders xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) and Fanconi anemia (FA) and conversely, how they may be targeted in cancer therapy to target the inherent vulnerabilities of tumors and to improve outcomes of treatment by agents such as cisplatin. Our research is inherently multi-disciplinary and involves national and international collaborations with many laboratories and is conducted in the following three sections (research groups).