My research interest is focused on learning the techniques and approaches that underscore hypothesis-driven basic and translational cardiovascular/lymphatic pharmacology research. The primary focus is the mechanisms of damage to the lymphatic system during cancer chemotherapy and developing therapeutic strategies to reduce this damage. The laboratory uses techniques such as tissue dissection, enzymatic cell isolation, flow cytometry, vascular functional studies, and gene and protein expression assays. The laboratory also employs both surgical techniques to measure lymph flow in vivo using high-speed optical imaging.
Another area of interest is the potential effects of cardiovascular drugs on lymphatic function. Hypertension has been associated with an increased risk of lymphedema in breast cancer patients. It is unclear whether this increased risk is due to the role of lymphatics in hypertension pathology or the medications used to treat hypertension. Thus we aim to study the effect of antihypertensive agents on lymphatic function and determine the contribution of antihypertensive agents to the development of lymphedema in cancer patients.