Our Team
Baylee Porter, Dr. Leszek Kotula, Maria Ortiz, and Xiang Li
Anna Seidl
Kevin Lin
MD/PhD Student, G2
​
Project Summary: Castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) has a high morbidity rate due to metastasis and treatment inefficacy. Previous work in our lab has identified ABI1 as a key regulator of prostate cancer progression. My research project focuses on how changes in ABI1 may contribute to the mechanisms behind therapy resistance in CRPC through ABI1's roles in androgen receptor activation and transcriptional regulation.
PhD Candidate, 3rd Year
​
Project Summary: Anti-androgen therapy during prostate cancer treatment has been shown to cause cognitive deficits, also known as treatment-induced dementia. My research project aims to investigate the hypothesis that ABI1, a well-characterized actin cytoskeleton regulator modulated by androgen receptor activity, plays a role in the regulation of dendritic spine morphology in neurons.
David Solano
PREP-Up Post-Baccalaureate Program Student
​
Project Summary: ABI1 has been implicated as a tumor suppressor that, when mutated, often leads to the development of prostate cancer through its interaction with AR and downstream transcriptional changes. My current research project is working to use CRISPR-cas9 on CRPC cell lines to investigate the effects of ABI1's Exon 4 on cancer progression.