The Shao Lab
July 2023 - Melisande and Evan joined our lab as our new research technicians. Melisande received her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Evan received his bachelor's degree in biology from WashU. Welcome!
February 2023 - Congratulations to Shu who was accepted into the MSTP program at WashU!! And we are so excited that Shu is committed to pursuing his PhD degree in our lab!
February 2023 - Mari is leaving for an Assistant Professor position in the Laboratory of Functional Physiology, Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Shizuokathe in Japan. Congratulations and good luck!
November 2022 - Cuige's paper on the context-dependent effects of nuclear profilin-1 on DNA replication forks was officially accepted for publication by Nature Communications! It is now online (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34310-9.pdf).
October 2022 - Rong has joined our lab as a postdoctoral research associate. She received her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from East China Normal University in Shanghai, China, in June 2022. Her graduate study focused on understanding the relationship between gut microbiome and host nutritional system in terms of energy metabolism and immune regulation. For her postdoctoral work, Rong will be investigating the nuclear functions of profilin-1 in DNA replication stress response and its therapeutic implication for cancer chemotherapies. Welcome Rong!
September 2022 - With mixed emotions, we said goodbye to Cuige who has completed her postdoctoral training in the lab and left for China to pursue her independent career. You have done such an amazing job and will be missed by everyone in the lab!
May 2022 - Shu has joined the lab as our new research technician. He was a fresh graduate from Vanderbilt University with a major in Cellular and Molecular Biology. Welcome!
December 2021 - We are thrilled and honored that our research development grant was selected for funding by the Siteman Investment Program (SIP)! This award will be used to study the degradation pathway of p97-VCP during DNA damage response and its therapeutic implication for cancer chemotherapy efficacy.
October 2021 - Our new paper on the role of pSer784-VCP in chemotherapy response and chemo-sensitizing effect of VCP inhibitors in pancreatic cancer was accepted for publication in Cancers!
June 2021 - Our new paper on Ser71 phosphorylation as a novel phosphorylation event abolishing actin-binding of profilin-1 and its role in cancer cell apoptosis was accepted for publication in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology!
January 2021 - Our new paper on the moonlighting function of nuclear profilin-1 as a transcriptional repressor and its deregulation in cancer by exportin-6 upregulation was officially accepted for publication in Cell Reports! What a fantastic feeling to finally reconcile the long-standing paradox regarding profilin-1's opposing cellular functions as an essential protein and a tumor-suppressor. And yes, protein subcellular localization matters a lot!
September 2020 - Mari has joined our lab as a postdoctoral research associate. Mari received her PhD from the Graduate School of Agriculture at Kyoto University in Japan in March 2020 and her graduate study focused on metabolic regulation of uncoupling protein 1 expression. Mari will begin her postdoc research in our lab by investigating the mechanism of nuclear profilin-1 as a novel regulator of estrogen receptor (ER) function and its therapeutic potential for ER-positve breast cancer. Welcome Mari!
August 2020 - Wil has joined our lab as a research technician I. Wil graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. in neuroscience in December 2019. He was accepted into the Post-baccalaureate Pre-medical Program at Washington University and will start this fall. Welcome Wil!
August 2020 - With bittersweet feelings we said goodbye to Keren who will start the next chapter of his life in China. Thank you for your contribution to the lab and we will miss you!
June 2020 - Our paper on the role of phospho-VCP in DNA damage response and cancer chemotherapy efficacy was published in Cell Reports on June 9! What a fantastic journey from a serendipitous finding to an exciting full-fledged project.
June 2020 - Ziqian has finished her 11-month training in our lab as an exchange student. She has done a fantastic job here and is going back home to continue her postdoc training. Thank you and good luck Ziqian!
January 2020 - Faliang has joined the lab as a visiting scholar from Zhejiang University in China. He will be working with Keren to investigate the role of the exportin-6/profilin-1 axis in cancer cell response to PARP inhibitors. Welcome Faliang!
November 2019 - Lena has joined the lab as an undergraduate researcher. She will be studying the role of profilin-1 in estrogen receptor signaling and endocrine therapy resistance of breast cancer. Welcome Lena!
November 2019 - Keren has joined the lab as a research technician. He will be primarily investigating the effect of exportin-6, the nuclear exporter of profilin-1, on the cancer cell response to PARP inhibitors. Welcome Keren!
July 2019 - Ziqian has joined us as an exchange PhD. student from Sun Yat-sen University in China. She will be studying the role of profilin-1 in normal DNA replication and DNA replication stress with Cuige. Welcome Ziqian!
June 2018 - Favour, a first-year MSTP student, has just started her summer rotation in the lab. She received her bachelor's degree from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) and completed two years of postbac research in Novirtis. She will be exploring VCP interactome and looking for novel cofactors which may mediate its function in DNA damage response. Welcome!
May 2018 - Sun and Cuige presented their work at the annual Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) forum at Washington University. Well done!
April 2018 - We attended the 2018 American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Chicago as a lab for the first time! Also, Cuige proudly presented her work on the novel role of profilin-1 in DNA replication.
March 2018 - Anne has just begun her undergraduate research in the lab to explore the mechanisms of action of several pharmacological inducers of nuclear Profilin-1. She is currently in her third year with a major in chemistry at Washington University. Welcome!
February 2018 - Sun has just presented his work on nuclear profilin-1 at the DNA metabolism and repair (DMR) work-in-progress seminar series. Great job!
May 2017 - Davinelle officially joined the lab as our first graduate student. Welcome!
February 2017 - Robert has just joined the lab as a postdoctoral research associate. Welcome!
November 2016 - Davinelle from the Molecular Cell Biology (MCB) program of the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) has just started her rotation in the lab. She will be investigating the functional effect of VCP phosphorylation on DNA damage response.
November 2016 - Ricky won the Outstanding Poster Presentation Award in Cancer Biology at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) for the work he has contributed to during his OGR summer program in the lab. Congratulations Ricky!
September 2016 - Cuige has just joined the lab as a postdoctoral research associate. Welcome!
August 2016 - Nina has just started her rotation in the lab. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland-Baltimore and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the program of Molecular Genetics and Genomics of the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences. She will be investigating the role of VCP in cell cycle checkpoint control as part of the DNA damage response.
July 2016 - Jieya has received the pre-R01 award from the Siteman Investment Program (SIP) to study the role of VCP in DNA damage response and chemotherapy efficacy of breast cancer.
June 2016 - Sun-Joong has joined the lab as our first postdoctoral research associate. Welcome!
June 2016 - Ricky from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez has started his summer research in the lab through the OGR (Opportunities in Genomics Research) Undergraduate Scholars Program.
April 2016 - Sean has been accepted by the PhD program at the University College London (UCL) cancer institute. He will be leaving at the end of July. Good luck Sean and we will miss your Irishness.
March 2016 - Anna has decided to pursue her PhD degree in the Microbiology Department at the University of Minnesota and will start in late August. You will be dearly missed Anna and will always be remembered as the very first lab member.
February 2015 - Sean has joined as a research technician, the second member of the Shao lab.
October 2014 - Anna has joined as a research technician, the first member of the Shao lab.
September 2014 - Jieya has received a development grant from the Longer Life Foundation to study the prognosic value of nuclear phospho-profilin-1 in breast cancer.
May 2014 - Jieya has received the Career Catalyst Research Award from the Susan G. Komen Foundation to study the causal role of ESR1 genomic alteration in endocrine therapy resistance of Luminal breast cancer.