Research Interests:The research projects in our lab focus on how cellular signals within a tumor cell promote oncogenesis. Our work is relevant to breast and ovarian cancer. We are particularly interested in understanding how the cellular architecture can play a role in regulating tumor progression. We have discovered a novel signaling protein called AFAP-110 that regulates both actin filament integrity and activation of the cSrc tyrosine kinase, which plays an important role in many solid tumors. A second project in the lab focuses upon determining how cellular signaling pathways can promote resistance to chemotherapy. Lastly, a third project we are working on is a collaborative project in the area of cancer nanotechnology that focuses on developing new technology to detect cancer biomarkers, as well as a project designed to understand how nanoparticles can affect tumor cell survival.
Bio: Dr. Flynn obtained his BS from the University of Maryland, College Park in Microbiology and his PhD in Virology from North Carolina State University. He was a post doctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. J. Thomas Parsons at the University of Virginia and has been on the faculty of the West Virginia University Medicine School since 1992. Dr. Flynn serves on the membership committee for the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB) and is a member of the NIH ONC-IRG study section on Molecular Oncology (MONC). Dr. Flynn is a founding scientist of the biotech company Protea Biosciences (www.proteabio.com) and serves of its Board of Advisors. |
