Project 1. Adult stem cells in the stomach
There are two distinct stem cell populations in the stomach gland. Even though we now know that these distinct stem cells have different behaviors in homeostasis and when damaged, we have yet to understand what unique characteristics each stem cell population has in these conditions. Using an NGS-based approach, we are trying to reveal each stem cell’s regulation mechanism.
Project 2. Gastric cancer
The cancer initiation and development of colon cancer have been thoroughly studied, however, the research on these processes in gastric cancer remains limited. Using various mouse lines, such as the Red2Onco system (Yum et al., Nature, 2021) and the SCON system (Wu et al., EMM, 2022), we address several questions about gastric cancer from a clinical views.
Project 3. Stomach-brain axis
The gut-brain axis has long been studied to understand how mental health affects the physiology of the gut. With research mainly focusing on the axis between the intestine and the brain, many questions about the stomach are still unanswered. We explore how neurotransmitters affect the stomach's physiology and are especially interested in the behavior of stem cells. For this project, we are working in close collaboration with the Center for Cognition and Sociality (CCS) at the IBS.
