Our Annual Lab Beach Day together with the Villalta Lab and the Lawson Lab took place at the beautiful Corona Del Mar State Beach – just a short drive away from the lab. We also used this occasion to bid farewell to our lab manager Anh Thien Phung, who is leaving to start Medical School at Dartmouth. Thanks to Anh for helping to get the lab up and running and good luck for your next endeavor. Thanks to everyone (in particular Katrina Evans) for organizing and for bringing great food and drinks. Special Thanks to Quy Nguyen for bringing his military grade drone and documenting our shenanigans from above.
RESEARCH GOALS
The Kessenbrock Lab studies cellular communication in single cell resolution in the context of normal tissue homeostasis and in breast cancer. We want to understand how stem cell behavior is extrinsically regulated by the microenvironment of the mammary stem cell niche and learn how the molecular composition of the niche changes during tumorigenesis. Our interdisciplinary research approach will identify biomarkers for early detection and may ultimately lead to the discovery of novel therapeutic approaches to treat or even prevent breast cancer before it develops.
Kai Kessenbrock, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of California, Irvine
School of Medicine
Department of Biological Chemistry
Affiliations:
Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Center for Complex Biological Systems
Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center