耍小聰明: 打小工，扛長工...

耍小聰明: 打小工，扛長工

 

閨女上周電話中透露， CollegeVine 給了她一個"小時工", 輔導高中畢業生申請學校，打小工的小時工錢比"有盼"醫學院 Fan Laboratory抗長工高，三倍還有餘。

 

三年前自己申請大學時，得到過"招生英雄"指定的康大一位同姓小女生認真監督和查對申請材料，花二三千美刀換個輕鬆平穩的經曆。除了隨意ED申請哥大失利外，哈&普和"有盼"被掛W - list,  進康大二年後，自己申請轉學"有盼"，從經曆看閨女比其他的輔導員多一次轉學申請的成功經驗，希望她能幫到一二位希望進好學校的小女生。

 

經過康大Lee教授Lab十個月的嚴格義工訓練，暑假二個月去 UVA乳腺癌實驗室已經可以獨立做一組實驗，結果還可以用，印裔女老板拿去組織文章。八月底進"有盼", 憂點欠思考走老路，又去醫學院找實驗室(有很多從事前沿研究的 Lab對本科學生開放), 比較倉促沒有做細致的SWOT二選一進了研究腦癌的Fan Laboratory，老板項目有錢，用本科生抗長工，撿芝麻的事...

 

If 閨女能學的更聰明些，勵大智琢大事，讓"腳瘦"和善跑的同學們當合同工...

 

焦愚&教娛，試錯和學習過程中...

 

Fan Laboratory

 

HomePeopleResearchPublicationsResourcesAbout The PI

 

HOMERESEARCHResearch

 

Glioblastoma (GBM, grade IV glioma) is the most common and most aggressive primary brain tumor in humans. GBM is among the most lethal of human malignancies with a median survival of approximately 14 months, largely due to its high resistance to standard radio- and chemotherapy. The ultimate objective of our research is to develop new, efficient therapies against GBM and other malignant tumors by targeting the cancer microenvironment. 

 

Vascular Transformation

 

Aberrant vascularization is a hallmark of cancer progression and therapy resistance. However, current anti-vascular treatments that mainly target angiogenic factors, albeit initially groundbreaking, have encountered difficulties and failure in most types of malignant tumors. Our recent studies reveal that tumor-associated endothelial cells exhibit robust plasticity, acquiring mesenchymal phenotypes to induce vascular abnormality (Huang et al, JCI 2016), which suggests endothelial de-transformation as a novel anti-cancer therapeutic strategy. We aim to decipher the key mechanisms that control cell plasticity-driven metabolic, epigenetic, and genetic reprogramming in tumor-associated endothelial cells, which serve as the targets for next-generation anti-vascular therapies. We expect these new vasculotherapies may recondition the tissue microenvironment, block cancer progression, and overcome tumor therapeutic resistance.

 

Immune Microenvironment

 

Immunotherapy holds great promise for cancer treatment. However, current immunotherapy of solid tumors, primarily by targeting tumor-associated T cells, remains a big challenge, largely due to insufficient infiltration and activation of T cells in the tumors. Our studies aim at elucidating the immunosuppressive mechanisms, by which tumor-associated macrophages and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) inhibit infiltration and activation of T cells and NK cells in the tumor microenvironment. We hope to develop new cancer immunotherapies by breaking microenvironment-specific immune suppression, which boosts host-tumor immunity and strengthens adoptive cellular therapy.

 

Cancer Stem Cells

 

Cancer stem cells, also known as tumor-initiating cells or tumor-propagating cells, are highly tumorigenic and able to differentiate asymmetrically to orchestrate a heterogeneous tumor mass; importantly, cancer stem cells are resistant to chemotherapy and radiation, and therefore contribute significantly to tumor resistance and relapse. Recent studies have identified a prominent population of glioma stem cells (GSCs) in GBM, which are pluripotent and radio-resistant and have the ability to repopulate tumors. The goal of our laboratory is to develop new therapies that are effective at eradicating GSCs. We employ various approaches and methods of vertebrate genetics and human genomics to dissect the convergent and divergent regulatory pathways that govern GSC stemness and resistance to chemotherapy and radiation, induced by either intrinsic signals in GSCs or extrinsic mechanisms from niche cells.

 

Radiation Biology

 

Proton therapy is an innovative radiation treatment modality that offers dosimetric advantages over conventional photon (gamma or x-ray) radiation. 

 

Contact Us

 

Fan Laboratory

 

Department of Radiation Oncology

University of Pennsylvania

3400 Civic Center Blvd

Smilow Center for Translational Research

Rm 8-132 (Office); Rm 8-167 (Lab)

Philadelphia, PA 19104

 

Email: [e-mail]

 

Lab: 215-898-0039 (lab); 215-898-9291 (office)