Dr. Oro's lab studies skin stem cells to understand mechanisms of tissue regeneration and carcinogenesis. They have a longstanding interest in the mechanisms of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling in the hair follicle and n the pathogenesis of the most common human tumor, basal cell carcinoma (BCCs) of the skin. They have provided clinical evidence for the first hedgehog pathway inhibitor and are developing novel targets for next generation inhibitors that target the transcription factor Gli. They are studying the mechanisms of tumor evolution and the development of chemoresistance to targeted agents in both patients and mouse models using genomics and bioinformatic methods followed by functional validation.