Can We Treat Cancer Differently? Hao Jiang, PhD Thinks So @UVASchoolofMedicine

Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

Hao Jiang, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics

Transcript:
Our recent work has revealed that some of the most fundamental principles in physics and chemistry govern the very complex biological and pathological processes in our body. While we all assume so, it is actually very satisfying to actually directly see this in our own work. Moreover, the potential to use the knowledge and strategies we develop to benefit human health is very rewarding to me.

I'm Hao Jiang, professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. My laboratory studies how the expression of our genetic information is normally regulated and how cancer and certain developmental disorders are caused by disregulation of gene expression through novel mechanisms, including formation of liquid-like microdroplets of key proteins.

So, based on some of the newly discovered mechanisms in the formation of pathways that support cancer, we're developing strategies to perturb or reverse these processes with the hope that they can be used to treat human diseases driven by these mechanisms. Therefore, I believe that our research provides deeper understanding of how cancer develops and new ways to treat cancer and other diseases.

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