Email: syang@chapman.edu

College: School of Pharmacy

Overview of scholarly research/creative activity:  The aberrant pathways in cancer cells may be utilized for developing targeted therapeutics. My translational research focuses on identifying promising druggable targets and developing potent inhibitors for melanoma therapy. I am also interested in studying medication safety and clinical outcomes of medication treatment in children.

Specific projects working on:  APE/Ref-1 is a multifunctional protein that plays an important role in both DNA damage repair and cellular responses to redox signaling. My studies demonstrated that melanoma cells exhibit significantly higher levels of APE/Ref-1 compared to normal melanocytes, which stimulated proliferation and metastasis and contributed to chemotherapeutic drug resistance. Using a structure-aided drug design approach, we aim to develop potent APE/Ref-1 inhibitors that preferentially bind to and stabilize the inactive conformation of the protein as potential anti-cancer therapeutic agents. Our leading compounds have already exhibited promising anti-melanoma activities.

Number of students looking to work with: 1-2

Time commitment for students:  6-8 hours per week.

When students are needed:  Interterm 2021, Spring 2021, Summer 2021

What would students be expected to do​​​​​​: Lab experiments, weekly group meeting, analyzing and presenting experiment results.