Morgan Casal (Class of 2019) was selected as a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Pediatric Oncology Education program scholar for summer 2016. The Pediatric Oncology Education program at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is funded by the National Institutes of Health / National Cancer Institute. Students participating in the Pediatric Oncology Education program receive training in an academic environment created by the interaction of committed basic scientists, research-oriented physicians, and postdoctoral fellows. Casal will be with Dr. Taosheng Chen and associates, working on functional characterization of CAR receptor splice variants and mutants. Research activities in the Chen laboratory focus on the regulation of the pregnane X receptor (PXR) and the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) in drug toxicity and resistance. The goal is to discover and develop novel pharmacological tools and therapeutic agents that will help prevent drug toxicity, attenuate drug resistance, and treat cancer.
