Lab Research

Our lab explores two dynamic areas at the intersection of virology, cancer biology, and metabolism.

First, we investigate how DNA tumor viruses—such as human papillomaviruses (HPVs) and human polyomaviruses (HPyVs)—drive infectious disease and cancer, including skin and head and neck malignancies. One of our key discoveries revealed that high-risk HPVs produce circular RNAs (circRNAs), including a circular E7 RNA (circE7) with coding potential and oncogenic properties (PMID: 31127091). This breakthrough has opened new areas of investigation on the regulation and function of both viral and cellular.

Second, we study how glucose transport and metabolism shape tissue homeostasis and contribute to disease. Our work shows that facilitative glucose transporters, such as GLUT1 and GLUT3, do far more than move hexoses—they play unexpected roles in regulating tissue homeostasis and signal transduction. These insights have important implications for inflammatory and neoplastic skin disorders (PMID: 29662201, 37721853).