We confront cancer with an ever expanding array of drugs, and yet it keeps coming back. Recurrent disease can be caused by mutation but many times the cause of treatment failure is more mysterious. Our hypothesis is that mammalian cells contain gene programs that naturally give rise to variation within a population and that cancer exploits these gene network structures in recurrent disease. We test this idea with a combination of cell biology, genomics, bioinformatics, and technology development.

	Cell-to-cell variation in gene expression Many genes show highly heterogeneous expression across populations of cells, with high expression in some cells and low expression in other cells. more >>
	Formation of cell states Ultimately, cells must organize genes into functional modules of coexpression. How does this process occur and how does it break down in cancer? more >>
	MicroRNA regulation of cellular variation and state MicroRNAs are small regulatory RNA molecules that control gene expression. Do they influence cell-to-cell variability, and can we use them to better diagnose cancer? more >>