PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
McAllister Heart Institute
UNC-Chapel Hill
Cancer Cell Biology Research Program
Area of Interest
My long-term research vision is to comprehensively understand endothelial cell metabolism, and find ways that improve endothelial health to prevent and cure human diseases. The endothelium has long been considered a passive organ that lines blood vessel walls; however, recent experimental evidence has demonstrated that endothelial cell metabolism drives angiogenesis, a finding that has revolutionized the field. Emerging evidence has suggested that altered endothelial metabolism can drive cancer progression, and targeting endothelial metabolism is a promising therapeutic approach to cure cancer. These findings underscore the importance of comprehensively understanding endothelial cell metabolism. Many details of endothelial metabolism are still largely unknown and how endothelial cells use these specific metabolic pathways and how these functions change in contexts of cancer biology needs further investigation.
Awards and Honors
- Career Development Award, American Heart Association, 2024-2027
- NIH High Priority, Short-Term Project Award (R56, 1yr), NHLBI, 2022
- Post-doctoral fellowship grant (3yr), American Diabetes Association, 2018-2021
- Research Excellence Award, American Heart Association / American Stroke Association, 2017
- Association wide post-doctoral fellowship grant (2yr), American Heart Association, 2017-2019
- Great rivers affiliate pre-doctoral fellowship grant (2yr), American Heart Association, 2012-2014
- Research Excellence Award, American Heart Association / American Stroke Association, 2012
