Home Department: Biology
Supported by: Bio-X
Mentor: Matthew Scott, Professor of Genetics, Bioengineering and of Developmental Biology

Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Louis Lu is a Biology major about to begin his junior year. Currently working in the Scott Lab, Louis has been studying the Sonic Hedgehog Signaling Pathway, a key regulator of animal development that has also been linked to the development of several cancers. Louis has been especially interested in one of the pathway's proteins, Smoothened, which has been a target of a variety of synthesized inhibitors. He hopes to discover mutations in Smoothened protein that may be involved in oncogenesis or the development of drug resistance, which would then better enable patient-specific drug treatment.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 25, 2010:

The Hedgehog Pathway: Discovering Smoothened Mutations that Confer Drug Resistance

Louis Lu, Nicholas Conley, Tyler Hillman, Matthew Scott
[Biology, Radiology, Medicine; Stanford University]