The Galindo Lab is interested in . . .
. . . the genetic and molecular underpinnings of childhood cancer. Within the group of malignant tumors that afflict children, those that grow from the skeleton and soft tissues (e.g, muscle, bone) are called sarcomas and are particularly aggressive. Little is understood about how these cancers arise, explaining in part why childhood sarcomas are notoriously clinically difficult to treat and cure. To address these issues, we are presently utilizing multiple animal model systems (including invertebrate and mammalian models) to dissect the biology of the most common soft-tissue sarcoma of childhood- the skeletal muscle-type tumor rhabdomyosarcoma.
Furthermore, since tumors often recapitulate and utilize critical aspects of basic developmental genetic programs for neoplastic growth, we are also generating new insights into our fundamental understanding of basic developmental biology.