The Rao Laboratory is developing engineering tools to unravel the mechanisms associated with the role of microenvironment in cancer progression, therapeutic response and resistance.
Areas of Research:
- Biomaterials
- Cell‐Material Interactions
- Tumor Microenvironment
- Drug Resistance
Our research group is designing three dimensional biomaterial scaffolds (e.g., hydrogel scaffolds, and porous scaffolds) as tools to mimic features of tissues that could serve as platforms for elucidating physiologically relevant cellular behaviors, drug screening and discovery, as well as mechanisms of drug resistance in the context of cancer therapeutics in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we are developing biomaterial tools that could be employed for sensing and modulation of drug resistance.
We are also interested in applying systems biology approaches to understand the underlying mechanisms of therapeutic resistance in physiologically relevant 3D microenvironments.
