Stem cell biology in degenerative disease and cancer
 

Our efforts are focused on uncovering additional facets of the signals that regulate neural stem cells in order to devise new treatments, including ones that can be used clinically. This requires basic research into the mechanisms that control stem cell survival and proliferation. Recently, we showed that cholera toxin, which regulates a number of cellular functions also regulates the biochemical pathways we previously discovered and greatly increases stem cell numbers in culture.

We are also interested to expand the scope of our work beyond the nervous system and into other organs, such as the pancreas, because we have shown that many of the core principles that regulate stem cells from the brain are shared by other tissues. This effort could lead to therapeutic strategies that aim to stop the degeneration of tissues and not merely treat symptoms.