Jin Zhang, MS, PhD

Area of Research

• The tumor suppressor p53 and its homologues, p63 and p73, play a pivotal role in the regulation of the DNA damage response, cellular homeostasis, development, aging, and metabolism.  Interestingly, p53, but not p63 and p73, is found to be frequently mutated in more than half of human cancers.  To understand the diverse activities for the p53 family proteins, we focus on the following areas of research: 1) use novel mouse models to understand the biology of p53 family proteins; 2) explore the therapeutic potential of targeting the p53 pathway for both human and companion animal patients.