The department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Medical University of South Carolina has openings for a PhD student and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Han, which will join MUSC on August 1st, 2024. The Han lab focuses on the pancreatic cancer, which is a major and deadly cancer type. Pancreatic cancer is driven by DNA mutations in the epithelial tumor cells and is also characterized by a dense stroma primarily composed of cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs). CAFs play important and complex roles in modulating the microenvironment of tumor cells. The goal of the Han lab is to better understand CAFs and their interactions with tumor cells and other components in the tumor microenvironment. Precise characterization and fine-tuning of the tumor microenvironment hold tremendous potential for better diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of pancreatic cancer.
The Han lab aims to investigate tissue origin(s), heterogeneity, and function of pancreatic CAFs. The first goal of the Han lab is to identify the fetal and adult tissue origins of the abundant CAFs in pancreatic cancer. The second goal of the Han lab is to determine the persistence of fetal gene signatures in defining the heterogeneity of pancreatic CAFs. The third goal of the Han lab is to elucidate the roles of fetal gene signatures in regulating the function of CAFs. The Han lab utilizes various research platforms such as genetically engineered mouse models, human patient samples, cell culture and organoids, which are analyzed using cutting-edge cellular, molecular and bioinformatic techniques.