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Yashi F Ahmed, MD, PhD

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The Wnt signal transduction pathway controls cell proliferation and fate specification in all animals. Deregulation of Wnt signaling causes numerous birth defects and cancers, including nearly all colorectal cancers, the second leading cause of cancer-related death. Therefore, our understanding of Wnt regulatory mechanisms is crucial. Despite the critical role of Wnt signaling in animal development and human diseases, many of the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. We work at the interface between developmental biology and cancer biology to uncover these mechanisms, with the long-term goals of better understanding morphogen signaling in animal development and developing new strategies to treat Wnt-driven diseases. To identify and elucidate the roles of previously unknown Wnt pathway activators, we couple state-of-the-art CRISPR-based genetic approaches, super-resolution confocal microscopy, and biochemistry in Drosophila and in mammalian cells. In collaboration, we expand our findings to mouse and human cancer models.