Samuel Lab Research Interest Areas
1. Enhancing the efficacy of anti-cancer therapy. The efficacy of cancer therapy is severely compromised due to serious side effects and resistance. Our laboratory is interested in improving the outcomes of cancer therapy through:
a. Understanding of the molecular responses in cells exposed to clinically used targeted or broad-acting therapeutic agents. We characterize the activation of critical signaling mechanisms when neoplastic epithelial or stromal cells are exposed to therapeutic drugs.
b. Designing rational combination strategies that will improve the therapeutic index of clinically used drugs. We test natural compounds and novel agents for their enhancing activities when combined with known anti-neoplastic agents. The overarching goal of our research interest in this area is to rationalize the use of combination therapy in cancer management. We employ molecular and cell biology techniques as well as in vitro cell line and in vivo preclinical models to address these questions.
c. Strategies using nanomaterial- or biomimetic vehicles for drug delivery. In collaboration with Material Sciences Engineering department faculty, we formulate and test bio-derived nanomaterials for delivery of drugs that would otherwise be unstable for example in the upper digestive tract or would not reach distal organs such as the large bowel.

2. Collaborative: Development of molecular tools and novel methods for the detection of pathogens. Projects in this area are focused on developing rapid and sensitive strategies to detect pathogens that cause major foodborne diseases. Specifically, we work on establishing molecular and nanotechnology-based tools to reduce the time length for pathogen identification after an outbreak or overt disease.