I am a biomedical scientist specialized in translational research in urological cancers, prostate cancer (PCa) metastasis, tumor microenvironment and other lung diseases. My current research includes mechanisms regulating cellular plasticity in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), endothelial-barrier regulation and Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in PCa metastasis. The foundation for my research is built through several Intramural grants, Veteran’s affairs, American Heart, American Legion, NIH, and Department of defense, as Principal- or co-investigator. While my forte is laboratory research in experimental therapeutics, one of my major accomplishments has been the creation of a broad, multi-disciplinary research training program encompassing postdoctoral fellows, graduate and professional students, and residents that extend from the laboratory to the bedside. This training environment is significant as it educates people to be successful in the changing landscape of biomedical research. My trainees are able to move into their respected health care fields as practitioners and researchers with a firm mutual understanding of each other’s knowledge. I am also a NIH KL2 and TL1 core co-director representing UGA in the Research Education Executive Committee in its alliance with Emory, Georgia Tech, and Morehouse SOM that form the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance (Georgia-CTSA). This VA Merit review grant proposal seeks to identify and characterize the role of selected microRNAs in prostate cancer EMT and metastasis. 

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