Dan Reynolds

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

My research interests involve utilizing both tissue engineering and biomaterials principles for the development of in vitro 3D tumor models. More specifically, I am interested in characterizing the environmental properties responsible for the cancer stem cell (CSC) niche. CSCs are a sub-population of tumor cells that have stem-like properties (i.e. self-renewal and differentiation) and are believed to give rise to the bulk of the tumor population. Despite the increasing evidence supporting the role of CSCs in tumorigenesis and metastasis, most of the evidence has been gathered either by using oversimplified 2D in vitro cultures that fail to recapitulate the complex 3D in vivo environment or by using expensive animal models that preclude real-time and high-throughput analysis. As a result, not much is known about how the physical microenvironment affects the CSC sub-population. Thus, there is a real need for studying CSCs using 3D in vitro tumor models that bridge the gap between 2D in vitro and 3D animal models. Finally, understanding how the microenvironment affects the CSC phenotype will not only expand our general knowledge of CSCs but could also potentially lead to new therapeutic targets aimed at inhibiting the CSC niche.