Pharmacology & Toxicology Research
Cancer
Overview
- A major focus of the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology is the study of existing cancer chemotherapeutic drugs, their mechanisms of action and their adverse effects, as well as designing, developing, and optimizing new therapies.
- The department partners with the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center in this preclinical and clinical research.
Research Approaches
- Faculty members actively investigate cellular processes—including apoptosis (cell death), autophagy (cellular cleanup), senescence (cellular aging), and oncogene addiction—to design effective molecularly targeted drug combinations for clinical trials.
Faculty Research Interests
Hamid Akbarali, Ph.D., Professor
Detailed research overview for Dr. Hamid Akbarali
- The role of the gastrointestinal microbiome in opioid tolerance and hyperalgesia
- Chemotherapy–induced gastrointestinal toxicity
David Gewirtz, Ph.D., Professor
Detailed research overview for Dr. David Gewirtz
- Biochemical and molecular effects of antitumor drugs and radiation in breast tumor cells and lung cancer cells.
- Regulation of senescence arrest.
- Involvement of autophagy in sensitivity and resistance to chemotherapy and radiation.
Said M. Sebti, Ph.D., Professor
Detailed research overview for Dr. Said Sebti
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Understanding how oncogenic K-Ras and Ral GTPase regulate the tumor suppressor p53.
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Identifying kinases that are synthetically lethal with mutant K-Ras.
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Identifying small molecules that bind K-Ras and inhibit its GTP activation, binding to its effectors and blocking oncogenesis.
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Identifying cell surface proteins specifically expressed on human cancers that harbor mutant K-Ras.
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Developing dual FT and GGT-1 inhibitors as novel anti-cancer drugs targeting human tumors that harbor mutant K-Ras.
Emmanuel Skordalakes, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Detailed research overview for Dr. Emmanuel Skordalakes
- Telomerase function
- Telomerase regulation
- Development of novel cancer therapeutics
- Sex differences
Lu Yang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Detailed research overview for Dr. Lu Yang
- Therapeutic targets and drug development
Yuesheng Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
Detailed research overview for Dr. Yuesheng Zhang
- Therapeutic targets and drug development for cancer prevention and treatment
- Discovery and development of novel targeted therapy in HER2-positive breast cancer
- Drug resistance mechanism and novel therapeutic strategy in non-small cell lung cancer
- Regulation of tumor suppressor p53 and mutant p53