We are investigating the molecular diversity of varied cell types throughout normal and tumor tissues, using tissue microarrays for histological examination of protein and mRNA expression. Prior studies using cDNA microarrays have shown that there is great diversity in gene expression patterns within a cell type as well as across tissue types.

 

To this end, my main goals are to develop (1) markers to distinguish relevant sub compartments of tissues, (2) high throughput assays to quantitate protein and mRNA expression by specific cell identities and (3) needed database tools for extracting knowledge from our assays.

 

This work is in collaboration with Dr. Matt van de Rijn in the Department of Pathology