Home Department: Undeclared
Mentor: Michael Snyder (Genetics)

“Investigating the Functional Role of Recurrent Repeat Expansions in Prostate Cancer”

In preliminary research in Professor Snyder’s lab (Department of Genetics), Daniel has identified two recurrent mutations, known as repeat expansions in prostate cancer genomes. To their knowledge, this is the first demonstration of this type of mutation in prostate cancer. Interestingly, one of the two mutations has been found in a cancer-related gene. This summer, Daniel will investigate the functional role of these recurrent repeat expansions and determine whether some of them play a role in cancer development and/or cellular proliferation. He will work with cell culture, use DNA sequencing techniques and protein analysis as part of his investigation into the functional role of repeat expansions in prostate cancer.