Areas of Interest
The Wicha laboratory is a leader in Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) biology. According to the ISI Citation Index, Dr. Wicha is among the most highly-cited investigators in the field of CSCs. His group was part of the team that first identified breast CSCs. Dr. Wicha’s laboratory identified a number of stem cell markers and developed in vitro and in vivo models to isolate and characterize these cells. These research models and resources have been widely adopted by other investigators. His laboratory subsequently elucidated a number of intrinsic and extrinsic pathways which regulate self-renewal and cell fate decisions in CSCs. Recently, the Wicha laboratory has focused on translating his pre-clinical research findings into the development of clinical trials designed to target breast CSCs.