Joseph T.Y. Lau

Research Overview:

The central thrusts of Dr. Lau’s research program are:

1. elucidate the functional contribution of sialic acid epitopes in normal and malignant processes, and
2. elucidate the molecular pathways that regulate the attachment of sialic acids.

The current main project is to examine the contribution of the sialyltransferase, ST6Gal-1, in innate and adaptive immune responses. There are a number of corollary projects to:

• examine the interaction between sialyltransferases and how this interaction influences the final outcome of sialyl-glycan structures;
• assess the biology roles of these sialyl epitopes and the cognate sialyltransferases in development of immune functions; and
• assess the influence of sialic acids in anti-tumor immunity.

The driving hypothesis of Dr. Lau’s research is that remodeling of cell surface glycan’s will alter critical tumor-host interactions, and understanding these interactions will offer clinical strategies that can lead to more effective anti-tumor immune responses and to investigate glycan-based molecular strategies for better clinical outcomes in bone marrow transplantations and in recovery from myeloablative conditions.