Dr. Stoyanova's research focuses on understanding fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying cancer development. Currently, her group studies signaling cascades initiated by cell surface receptors, which are involved in:
1) The early event of prostate cancer initiation
2) Regulation of the transition from indolent to metastatic disease. The long-term goal of Dr. Stoyanova's laboratory is to improve the stratification of indolent from aggressive prostate cancer and aid the development of better therapeutic strategies for the advanced disease.
Additionally, the lab is interested in understanding molecular mechanism that govern the self-renewal activity of adult stem cells and cancer stem cells. They use molecular biology techniques, cell culture based adult stem cell assays, in vivo tissue regeneration models of cancer and genetically engineered mouse models.