Education

Research / Teaching Statement

I am currently interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern breast cancer progression, apoptosis, and metastasis. My primary focus is on the relationships between obesity and triple negative cancers (TCN), the most aggressive form of breast cancer which disproportionately affect African-American women under the age of 35 and other underrepresented populations.

Recent Publications

Taliaferro-Smith, L., Nagalingam, A., Zhong, D., Zhou, W., Saxena, N.K., and Sharma, D.  (2009) LKB1 is required for adiponectin-mediated modulation of AMPK-S6K axis and inhibition of migration and invasion in breast cancer cells. Oncogene, 28:2621-33.

Saxena, N. K., Taliaferro-Smith, L., Knight, B. B., Merlin, D., Anania, F. A., O'Regan, R. M., and Sharma, D. (2008) Bidirectional crosstalk between leptin and insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling promotes invasion and migration of breast cancer cells via transactivation of epidermal growth factor receptor. Cancer Research 68(23):9712-9722.

Bonilla, C., Panguluri, R.K., Taliaferro-Smith, L., Argyropoulos, G., Chen, G., Adeyemo, A.A., Amoah, A., Owusu, S., Acheampong, J., Agyenim-Boateng, K., Eghan, B.A., Oli, J., Okafor, G., Abbiyesuku, F., Johnson, T., Rufus, T., Fasanmade, O., Chen, Y., Collins, F.S., Dunston, G.M., Rotimi, C., Kittles, R.A.(2006) Agouti-related protein promoter variant associated with leanness and decreased risk for diabetes in West Africans. Int J Obes (Lond). 30(4):715-21.

Friedberg, F., Taliaferro, L. (2005) Calmodulin genes in zebrafish (revisited). Mol Biol Rep. 32(1):55-60.