Floyd Lab

New Therapeutic Strategies From Epigenetic Modifiers and Effects on DNA Damage Signaling

Radiation therapy is widely used in the treatment of more than half of all cancer patients, and is particularly important in the treatment of brain tumors. For brain tumors, chemotherapy effectiveness is limited by the blood brain barrier, however radiation therapy effectively reaches brain tumors, and comprises a crucial component of treatment. Radiation therapy works by damaging DNA and takes advantage of aberrant DNA damage responses in cancer cells that result in cancer cell death. Our lab focuses on studying mechanisms of DNA damage signaling and repair in brain tumor and other mammalian cells. Specifically, we focus on how chromatin changes mediated by epigenetic modifiers affect the DNA damage response. It is our hope that deeper knowledge regarding the DNA damage response will lead to improved cancer treatments, especially for brain tumor patients. 

DNA Damage Signaling: Machanisms and Modulation