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Biology rhymes with recurrent themes. We aim to identify where the same rhyme fits normally, and where it stands out as a pathology. An example is the deep placental invasion into the uterus during pregnancy —- a normal phenomenon, which is quite similar to cancer dissemination and metastasis.
We look for similar “rhymes” focusing on 3 different physiologies: (i) cancer microenvironment, (ii) maternal fetal interface, and (iii) the heart.
In recent years, this approach has guided us to harness the evolutionary adaptations in mammalian placentation to understand human diseases from new perspectives, and identify cures for them.
In addition, our group has a particular interest in Mechanotransduction, and Regulation of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 signaling in cancers.
LAB UPDATES
People
Wenqiang Du
Wenqiang Du is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Connecticut Health Center. His research focuses on maternal-fetal interface, cancer-stroma interactions, and mechanobiology. When not in the lab, Wenqiang enjoys watching football, playing guitar, and hiking.
Yamin Liu
American Heart Association (AHA) predoctoral fellow.
Dr. Yamin Liu’s research focus on cancer microenvironment and heart disease, including cancer-stroma interaction, hypoxia and metabolism, molecular mechanisms of cardiac development and disease.
Yasir Suhail
Post Doctoral Fellow
Kshitiz
Principle Investigator
Kshitiz received his B.Tech. in Computer Science at IIT Bombay, and then PhD in BME from Johns Hopkins Medicine (advisors: Andre Levchenko, Gregg Semenza). He started a startup in University of Washington, Seattle for sometime before returning to academia at Yale University as an Associate Research Scientist. After that Kshitiz joined UConn Health, where he is an Associate Professor in BME.
Apart from science, Kshitiz is an entrepreneur, and a classical dancer in bharatanatyam, as well as an author.
Xihua Qiu
Khadija Wali
Khadija Wali is a PhD student in Biomedical Sciences at UConn Health, part of the cell biology area of concentration. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Central Connecticut State University, where she studied Biology, Chemistry, and Arabic. In the Kshitiz lab, Khadija is investigating stromal regulation, focusing on the interplay between cancer and the tumor microenvironment. Her work aims at integrating insights from reproductive biology, where she is conducting comparative analyses across species to uncover evolutionary parallels relevant to cancer. Her work employs genetic analysis, and utilizing 2D and 3D in vitro cellular assays.Outside of the lab she enjoys photography, reading, journaling, cooking, and making Pinterest boards.Interest
- Cell Biology
- Cancer Biology
- Reproductive biology
- Microscopy
- Computational Biology
- Experimental Design
Shaofei Liu
Graduate Student
Shaofei is an experienced Bioinformatician with expertise in single cell sequencing, statistics, high dimensional analysis with a particular focus on cancer staging.
David Englert
Harrison Quilliam
I am a sophomore biomedical engineering student at UCONN Storrs. I come from a small town in southern Rhode Island, Narragansett. Surfing and skiing are the two things I will never turn down. Over the last two semesters, I have become a part of this lab, assisting in experiments using traction force microscopy, as well as other cell culture experiments. I have recently started work with animals, and I am excited to dive further into this sector.
RESEARCH TOOLS & PLATFORMS
Our lab uses and develops biomedical tools to specifically answer biological questions we are interested in. We have specialized assays developed in house, as well as use a variety of tools developed elsewhere, which we customize for our collaborative research.
- Secretory Dynamics Analysis Platform
- Bioinformatics Network Methods
- ANSIA: Accelerated Nanopatterned Stromal Invasion Assay
- Anisotropic Traction Force Microscopy
- Dynamic oxygen control
