Maintenance of many tissues fails with advanced aging and disease. We study the underlying mechanisms governing tissue homeostasis and repair. 

Impaired function of telomeres - the caps that protect chromosome ends - occurs with normal aging and in settings of disease. Telomere dysfunction impairs tissue regeneration and blocks cancer development. We seek to understand how this process influences degenerative disease and cancer.

The cellular origins of cancer remain largely mysterious. We study the early stages of human carcinogenesis and how cancers acquire cellular immortality.