My laboratory studies the pathology and molecular biology of brain and eye tumors. Our overall goal is to identify molecular targets which can be exploited to develop more effective new therapies. In clinical and translational work, we seek to characterize genetic changes in neural and ocular tumors, and to correlate molecular profiles with specific pathological subtypes. I am also interested in how signaling pathways involved in normal development, such as Notch and Hedgehog, become aberrantly activated in neoplasia. The role played by stem-like cells in the formation and growth of tumors, and strategies by which they might be targeted, is another research focus. We study these issues using human tumor specimens, primary cultures, tumor cell lines, and transgenic mouse models.