My laboratory’s research interests include in vitro and in vivo animal metastasis models to study Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in breast and prostate cancer and show the importance of the bone and nervous system microenvironment in metastasis. We also study antagonizing EMT with natural products such as muscadine grape skin extract (MSKE) Our work on health disparities also examines EMT marker expression in men and women of African descent. I am the co-Leader of the prostate cancer working group within the African Caribbean Cancer Consortium (AC3) where we collaborate on health disparities research with epidemiologists, pathologists and urologists and other scientists from the US, Caribbean, and Africa.
As Executive Director for the Center for Health Disparities Research and Innovation, I am the contact PI of the Research Center for Minority Institutions (RCMI) grant funded by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) with a focus on bridging basic and translational health disparities research across different disciplines.