Research Interests

• Dr. Yang's research focuses on understanding mechanism of metastasis and endocrine resistance in breast cancer. Specifically, we conduct studies to understand: (1) how alterations in the receptor CD44 and its ligand-hyaluronan induce highly plastic states of luminal-like breast cancer cells and drive breast cancer metastasis, and (2) how ER-positive breast cancers acquire cell adaptation and resistance to anti-estrogen treatment. We use molecular biology, genomics, proteomics and mouse modeling to determine the mechanisms and potential targetable weaknesses of these processes.